89. Alex van den Heever: The mindset of a wildlife tracker

Access to Inspiration

Sue Stockdale talks to Alex van den Heever, a wildlife tracker and author who worked for many years at the famous Londolozi Game Reserve in South Africa. He served in numerous roles, as a safari guide, tracker and ultimately had full responsibility for the reserve’s environment.
Alex describes the ancient skill of tracking and how it relates to modern day decision-making. He shares the five interrelated activities involved in the tracking process: finding the right track, following, anticipation, losing the track and the encounter.
Alex was born in Knysna, South Africa in 1975. At age 19, he began working at the world-famous Londolozi Game Reserve. During this time, Alex was paired with Renias Mhlongo, a local Shangaan tracker who grew up as a hunter-gatherer in the greater Kruger National Park.
For 27 years the two have worked together tracking wild animals in Peru, Chile, Brazil, North America, Australia, China, and all over Africa. In 2003, Alex became the youngest person ever to be certified as a Senior Wildlife Tracker in South Africa. He is a director and shareholder of EcoTraining, South Africa’s leading guide and environmental training company.
In 2009, Alex and Mrs Gaynor Rupert founded the Tracker Academy, an award-winning non-profit NGO that trains indigenous wildlife trackers. Alex also co-founded Wild Signs, a company that developed the Tracking Success virtual adventure which uses the ancient practice of animal tracking to solve modern-day business problems.
He holds a NQF4 Lead Tracker and Professional Trails Guide qualifications, and a Diploma in Marketing and Business Management from Damelin Business School. Alex has published two books: the bestselling Tracker Manual field guide and Changing a Leopard’s Spots, a book about his working relationship and tracking adventures with Renias Mhlongo. In public engagements Alex speak alongside his friend and colleague of 27 years, Renias Mhlongo, in his language Shangaan, which he translates for the audience.
Key Quotes:

• 'There are very few animal trackers left in the world. Southern Africa is one of the last places that people still track wild animals'.
• 'As long as I remember, I've just wanted to be close to nature'.
• 'I'd done a year of a marketing degree and I was supposed to go back. I was gonna take a year off - that was 27 years ago. I never went back'.
• 'Renius was old enough to get me outta trouble, but young enough to get me into it'.
• 'Tracking is for the most part seen by the west as a very mystical, magical skill'.
• 'The top, most elite trackers in the world have the ability to balance detail analytical thought with creative holistic thinking'.
• 'Nature operates on relationships. The relationship between the rocks, the soil, the trees, the plants, the birds, the animals, everything is in. They are so intricately linked, and there are relationships there that are ancient and that are fundamental to the success of the system as a whole'.
• 'If man makes changes to the environment, nature doesn't complain. It simply adapts'.
• 'Nature is just wordless. Because the animals that these trackers pursue are wild and cannot be controlled. And because the environment in which they operate is vast, there are no signposts. There are no algorithms. There are no consultants to talk to. They have to become aligned with the signs that nature is giving them in order to make good decisions'.
• 'To track, well, you must put the animal in your heart'.
• 'Trackers give themselves time. They go slower rather than faster'.
• '94% of those 220 trained in the Tracker Academy are now in permanent conservation jobs. All of whom were unemployed, many without hope'.

Find out more about Alex van den Heever:
Website https://alexandren.com
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/alex_vandenheever/
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexkeynotespeaker
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/alex.vandenheever.1
Tracking Success website https://trackingsuccess.tv
Tracker Academy website https://www.trackeracademy.co.za
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/trackeracademy/
This series is kindly supported by Squadcast –the remote recording platform which empowers podcasters by capturing high-quality audio and video conversations. https://squadcast.fm
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