Joining us for the third episode of the podcast is helicopter pilot Jana Meyer who did us the great pleasure of sitting down for a chat after she’d flown in for a rhino dehorning. Just another day in the office for this incredibly hard-working conservation chopper pilot!

Working in wildlife conservation is a big part of her life and something Jana is very well known for here in the Greater Kruger. She started and runs her own conservation and ecotourism flying business, which operates in a great number of wildlife rescues, rhino dehornings, animal collarings, and anti-poaching operations in the Greater Kruger. 

Earlier on in her career she studied Nature Conservation, worked in the Kruger National Park as a game capture student, completed her FGASA Level 3 SKS Dangerous Game, and began a guiding career at Singita Lebombo. She’s managed game breeding operations in the Waterberg and after many hours in the passenger seat of a helicopter, the bug bit and she qualified as a commercial helicopter pilot.

She flies hours in and around the Greater Kruger in a tourism and conservation capacity and you can bet she flew herself to her wedding ceremony in her wedding dress!

Jana is a woman of many talents and she is proof that dynamite comes in small packages. It’s an honour to have her on the podcast and to share our space with such a dynamic and admirable woman in conservation. Welcome, Jana!

Find us @bretthorleysafaris and follow Jana on @hope_for_wildlife_helicopter