ABOUT US

WHAT WE DO?

Our team, consisting of three dedicated veterinarians, operates from Hoedspruit, South Africa, offering a wide variety of treatments for diverse wildlife species. Equipped with three ambulatory vehicles, we provide our services nationwide, with a special focus on the Greater Kruger Park Area, and offer worldwide veterinary and consulting services to share our expertise globally.

Our goal is to deliver exceptional care and innovative solutions to preserve and protect wildlife. Through our efforts, we aim to enhance animal health and well-being, promote biodiversity, and support the conservation of South Africa’s rich ecosystems.

By combining expertise, compassion, and mobility, we strive to make a meaningful impact on wildlife conservation and ensure the survival of our natural heritage for future generations.

What We Do?

Translocation of
Wildlife Species Worldwide

Fit satellite collars for research and monitoring

Facilitate black and white rhino dehorning operations

Zoo medicine, nutrition and anaesthesia

Treat injured and sick wildlife

OUR CORE VALUES

Wildlife first. Always.

Never forgetting why we are here in the first place. To improve and save the lives of our magnificent wildlife. Their safety and wellbeing is front of mind every time, no matter the situation.

Professionalism

While we love a good laugh, at the end of the day getting the job done right is the goal - in the face of conflict, ego etc. we deliver a high standard of service with a smile on our faces, putting the job first and focusing on keeping our animals safe.

Collaboration

Together we are more. One person cannot be an expert at everything - therefor we want to better serve our clients and collaborate with others to provide full solutions for every possible challenge.

Adventure

Even though our work is vital, we seek to do it with passion and to bring others along for the ride. We share, inspire and motivate and aim to showcase that working in the wild is worth it and a once-in-a lifetime opportunity.

Our Core Values

MEET OUR TEAM

We are a dedicated team of skilled professionals, committed to providing the best care for our wildlife. Meet the passionate and experienced veterinarians and conservationists who make up the Wildscapes team. Each of our team members brings a wealth of knowledge and a deep commitment to wildlife conservation. Driven by a shared love for animals and a desire to make a positive impact, our team works tirelessly to ensure the well-being of every creature they encounter. Learn more about our team and their stories below.

Our Team

Joel Alves

Owner - Wildlife Vet

Ben Muller

Owner - Wildlife Vet

Bart Gazendam

Wildlife & Equine Vet

Leah Brown

Veterinary Nurse

Thandiwe Knutson

Veterinary Internship Programme Coordinator

MORE ABOUT US

More About Joel Alves

Joel graduated in 2016 from the Onderstepoort Faculty of Veterinary science and after completing his compulsory community service year in 2017 he began his wildlife career in 2018 under the mentorship of Dr. Cobus Raath at WildlifeVets.com. In 2020, he and Dr. Ben Muller embarked on a new journey with WildScapes Veterinary & Conservation Services.

Joel is dedicated to wildlife conservation, extending his role beyond veterinary work, to the greater over-arching challenges that our ecosystems face. His career highlights, to name a few, include collaring forest elephants in the Odzala-Kokoua NP and fitting collars across multiple species in Iona NP with African Parks, placing ossicone units on Tanzanian giraffes with the Giraffe Conservation Foundation, capturing Kulan in Kazakhstan with Conservation Solutions, being part of the landmark rewilding of rhinos from the African Parks rhino re-wilding project and participating in wildlife captures across the USA. He has played a vital and ongoing role in dehorning over 1000 rhinos in Greater Kruger National Park since 2019 and assisted in the capture of 260 elephants in Malawi with Conservation Solutions, so far working in 12 African countries.

Joel's passion extends to predator and pachyderm conservation. He holds an MSc in leopard immobilization and currently contributes to a comparative immobilization protocol for free-ranging black rhinos. Beyond the sphere of veterinary science, Joel sits on the board of the Lion Management Forum of South Africa, is a part of the IUCN Giraffe Specialist Group and is a director of the NGO Back to Africa.

More About Ben Muller

Ben is a dedicated wildlife veterinarian with a passion for conservation. He earned his veterinary degree from the esteemed Onderstepoort Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Pretoria in 2015. Following this, he embarked on a year of community service in the uLundi District of Kwa Zulu Natal. In 2017, Ben joined a prominent mixed animal practice nestled in the heart of Zululand, where he honed his skills for two years. Subsequently, he embarked on a fulfilling three-year journey with Dr. Cobus Raath at Wildlifevets.com, exclusively focusing on wildlife projects. During this period, Ben gained invaluable experience in a wide range of clinical cases, while also taking on the responsibility of managing extensive conservation and translocation projects in remote locations.

In September 2020, Ben ventured into entrepreneurship, co-founding Wildscapes Veterinary and Conservation Services in partnership with Dr. Joel Alves. Their practice, based in Hoedspruit, is committed to serving the commercial and conservation sectors in the Lowveld region, but they also undertake projects across the globe, including so far the USA, Iraq, Mozambique, Malawi, Angola, Namibia, Tanzania, Republic of Congo, Benin, Togo, Ivory Coast, and Senegal.

Ben's expertise extends to his special interest in pachyderms and antelope species. Over the years, he has worked clinically with a diverse array of species. (Hippo, White Rhino, Black Rhino, Giraffe, Elephant, both forest and savanna, African buffalo, both forest and savanna, Lion, Leopard, Spotted Hyena, Cheetah, Serval, Black-backed Jackal, African Wild dog, Bengal Tiger, Cougar, Burchell’s Zebra, Blesbok, Waterbuck, Impala, Nyala, Sable, Roan, Warthog, Bushbuck, Cape, Livingstone and Lord Derby Eland, Kudu, Reedbuck, Blue and Nyasa Wildebeest, Black Wildebeest, Red Hartebeest, Gemsbuck, Springbuck, Common and Red Duiker, Fallow Deer, Vervet monkey, Baboon, African Pangolin, African Rock Python, Black mamba, Monitor Lizard, Banded Mongoose, Lesser Bushbaby, African Civet, Kob antelope, Mule deer, White-tail deer, Moose, Elk, Bighorn sheep, Mountain goat, and various vulture species).

Ben has played a crucial role in several special projects, including the rewilding of Nyasa Wildebeest and Crawshays zebra from Niassa Reserve to Gile Reserve in Mozambique, the capture and movement of 114 buffalo, including human-wildlife conflict animals, in Maputo Special Reserve, and ongoing rhino dehorning operations in the Greater Kruger Area since 2019.

Beyond his veterinary work, Ben serves as a director in the South African conservation NGO Back To Africa and holds a seat on the board of the Elephant Specialist Group (ESAG). In his leisure time, he enjoys fishing and keeps a keen eye on African geopolitical issues.

More About Bart Gazendam

Dr. Bart graduated from the University of Ghent, Belgium, in 2018. During his final years at university, he decided to pursue a career in equine medicine and surgery. After working for a year at one of the major equine clinics in the Netherlands, Paardenkliniek Hollands Kroon, Bart was fortunate enough to join the University of Liverpool. There, he completed a 13-month internship, further specialising in equine medicine and surgery while teaching final-year students at the university. Before moving to the University of Pretoria, he returned to the same clinic in the Netherlands for another year during the COVID pandemic. When the travel ban was lifted, Bart embarked on a new adventure, slightly shifting his career path.

Travelling to South Africa allowed him to start working at the University of Pretoria, where he undertook a three-year intensive South African specialisation programme to become a wildlife specialist. Working at the University of Pretoria exposed him to a wide variety of wildlife species. He was able to fine-tune his knowledge of African wildlife species, and working at multiple zoos in and around Pretoria and Johannesburg exposed him to an even broader variety of exotic species, including tigers, lemurs, avian species, and many more.

During his specialisation, Bart published several articles on pyometra in cheetahs and the vasectomy of lions. His most recent research, on the immobilisation of black rhinoceros, will be published soon. This latter project led Bart to his current position at WildScapes Veterinary and Conservation Services in Hoedspruit. He is now working with wildlife species, zoo collections, and some of the horses in and around Hoedspruit, South Africa. Bart is available for international work or consultations wherever possible, with his most recent trip being to Thailand to advise on issues regarding giraffes and cheetahs in captivity.

Bachelor and Master of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ghent, Belgium
Certificate for Advanced Veterinary Practice (CertAVP), Equine Soft Tissue, University of Liverpool, UK
Current: MMedVet (residency) Wildlife Disease, University of Pretoria
MRCVS; member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, UK
President of the Wildlife Disease Association (WDA), South Africa

More About Leah Brown

Leah holds a Bachelor of Veterinary Nursing from the University of Adelaide in Australia.

Her journey with wildlife conservation began in 2015 when she completed an internship with a local wildlife research team in Limpopo, South Africa. Following the internship, Leah dedicated four years, as the Program Manager, to cultivating vital relationships with landowners and local universities, which led to the establishment of several key research projects. These included vegetation surveys relating to elephant impact assessments, camera trap predator censuses, and vital contributions to cheetah metapopulation data.

In 2020, Leah returned to Australia to pursue her undergraduate degree in Veterinary Nursing. During her studies, she devoted her spare time to Australian wildlife research, koala rehabilitation, small animal emergency and surgical nursing, and made annual trips back to South Africa to work alongside Ben and Joel. After graduating, Leah officially joined the WildScapes team in early 2023.While she cherishes her time spent in the field, she primarily focuses on managing the administrative responsibilities that support the practice.

Bachelor of Veterinary Nursing, Adelaide University, Australia
Diploma of Animal Technology, TAFE SA, Australia
Fear Free Pets Veterinary Professionals Course, Colorado, US
FGASA Field Guide, South Africa

More About Thandiwe Knutson

Thandiwe Knutson is the Coordinator of the Veterinary Internship Programme at Wildscapes, where she leverages her extensive background in wildlife conservation and animal science to support the development of the next generation of wildlife professionals. With a BSc in Animal Science and a Master's degree in Wildlife Management from the University of Pretoria, her academic research on the African Wild Dog reflects her passion for both wildlife and conservation.

Before joining Wildscapes, Thandi managed the KwaZulu-Natal Leopard Monitoring Project in partnership with Wildlife ACT, Panthera, Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, and the iSimangaliso Wetland Park Authority. The project aimed to track Leopard population densities in KwaZulu-Natal using camera trapping technology, contributing valuable data to local and international conservation efforts.

Thandi then took on a leadership role with conservation organisation Wildlife ACT, where she oversaw a variety of high-priority species monitoring projects, wildlife relocations, collaring operations, and emergency response initiatives. She also managed data analysis, project development, and human resources, working with diverse stakeholders to strengthen partnerships and advance conservation goals in northern KwaZulu-Natal.

Now based in the Lowveld biosphere, Thandi brings her wealth of experience to Wildscapes, where she is dedicated to enriching the veterinary internship program with hands-on learning opportunities in wildlife care and conservation. When she's not working, Thandi enjoys life married to a veterinarian and as a mother to a bushbaby-in-the-making.

ABOUT US

WHAT WE DO?

Translocation of
Wildlife Species Worldwide

Fit satellite collars for research and monitoring

Facilitate black and white rhino dehorning operations

Zoo medicine, nutrition and anaesthesia

Treat injured and sick wildlife

OUR CORE VALUES

Wildlife first. Always.

Professionalism

Collaboration

Adventure

MEET OUR TEAM

Joel Alves

Ben Muller

Bart Gazendam

Leah Brown

Thandiwe Knutson

MORE ABOUT US

GET IN TOUCH

FOLLOW US

ABOUT US

WHAT WE DO?

Translocation of Wildlife Species Worldwide

Fit satellite collars for research and monitoring

Facilitate black and white rhino dehorning operations

Zoo medicine, nutrition and anaesthesia

​Treat injured and sick wildlife

OUR CORE VALUES

Wildlife first. Always.

Professionalism

Collaboration

Adventure

MEET OUR TEAM

Joel Alves

Ben Muller

Bart Gazendam

Leah Brown

Thandiwe Knutson

MORE ABOUT US

GET IN TOUCH

FOLLOW US

Translocation of
Wildlife Species Worldwide

Treat injured and sick wildlife