Conservationist, Human–Wildlife Coexistence Specialist

Carel Verhoef is a conservationist, expedition leader, and human–wildlife coexistence specialist with more than 25 years of field experience across East and Southern Africa. Born and raised in South Africa’s Kruger National Park, Carel grew up in open wilderness landscapes where his father worked on wildlife conflict management and ecological carrying capacity. These formative years — spent among elephants, rangers, and remote bush outposts — shaped his lifelong commitment to protecting habitats where wildlife and people can thrive together.

Throughout his career, Carel has worked across some of Africa’s most important ecosystems, focusing on elephant movement, ecological carrying capacity, and the protection of critical wildlife corridors. After completing five years of service in the South African Navy, where he developed technical and leadership skills, he returned to the bush to pursue a career in conservation operations, guiding, storytelling, and landscape-scale conservation initiatives.

He is the Co-Founder of Conservation Through Tourism and serves as Conservation Director of Kazi Ya Tembo, a pioneering human–elephant conflict mitigation program in Tanzania. In this role, Carel leads the development of rapid-response systems using thermal drone technology, trains rangers and community wildlife scouts, and collaborates with TANAPA, NCAA, TAWA, and private-sector partners to safeguard key elephant corridors across northern Tanzania. His work focuses on reducing human–elephant conflict, improving community safety, and maintaining the ecological connectivity of Tanzania’s largest elephant landscapes.

Carel’s research and applied fieldwork center on elephant movement ecology, community-based conflict mitigation, and the use of innovative technologies to support both conservation and local livelihoods. His work protects biodiversity, preserves wilderness, and empowers local communities as stewards of the natural world.

His conservation initiatives and elephant migration-tracking projects have been featured on international platforms, including CNN. He has also produced multiple conservation storytelling projects designed to raise global awareness of East Africa’s ecosystems and conservation challenges.

Carel holds a BA (Mil) from the Military Academy of Saldanha Bay and is fluent in English, Afrikaans, and Kiswahili.

His guiding belief is simple: protecting elephants begins with protecting habitat.

“Real conservation is about creating value for habitat—so that both wildlife and people can thrive. When both thrive, the land survives."