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From Longneck Manor to Africa: Putting Conservation Into Action
What happens when an animal care professional leaves the giraffes and rhinos of Texas behind and steps into the wilds of Africa?
For Leah Hernandez, Director of Behavioral Husbandry at Longneck Manor, the answer is an experience she describes simply as “the most amazing experience of my entire life.”
But this wasn't a typical safari.
It was a conservation journey—and one that Longneck Manor was proud to make possible.
From Animal Care to Conservation in the Field
Leah traveled to Africa with Indalo Adventures, visiting two parks and spending much of her time at Tembe Elephant Park, where she had the opportunity to participate directly in conservation work.
For someone who works with animals every day, the opportunity to see wildlife in its natural environment was extraordinary.
But being there as a conservation professional made the experience even more meaningful.
Instead of simply observing wildlife from a safari vehicle, Leah and the team were able to step out of the vehicle and participate in hands-on field work.
That included tracking lions, assisting with lion collaring, and collecting health information from a lion that needed a new tracking collar.
At one point, the team walked approximately two miles to find a pride of 10 lions: one male, four females and five cubs.
“We found one male, four females and five cubs, like little baby cubs,” Leah recalls. “It was so cool.”
The word “cool,” however, doesn't quite capture the experience.
After finding the pride, the team assisted with replacing a female lion's collar after the battery in her previous collar had died. Because she had cubs, keeping track of her movements was important.
Under the care of a veterinarian, the lion was sedated and moved to a safe location so the team could remove the old collar, attach the new one and collect blood samples to assess her health.
Leah was able to take off the old collar and participate in the blood draw.
For an animal-care professional, it was an extraordinary opportunity to see the kind of work that happens beyond the zoo environment—and to contribute to it firsthand.
When Wildlife Surrounds You
Some of the most memorable moments weren't planned.
While driving through the park, Leah and her group suddenly found themselves surrounded by a herd of approximately 10 elephants.
It wasn't simply the sight of the elephants that stayed with her.
It was the sound.
Leah describes the deep vocalizations as something she could actually feel in her chest.
“It was probably the most beautiful and moving moment I've ever had,” she says.
Moments like that have a way of changing the way you see an animal.
Even for someone who has devoted her career to caring for wildlife, experiencing animals completely on their own terms—in their own environment—offers a perspective that can't be replicated anywhere else.
Seeing Conservation in Action
One of the lessons Leah brought home with her was a deeper understanding of the difficult choices sometimes involved in protecting endangered wildlife.
During the trip, she learned about dehorning as a conservation tool used in some areas to reduce the incentive for poaching.
At one of the parks they visited, Leah was told that rhino losses had once reached as many as 4,000 animals during the worst periods of the year. Today, she was told, annual losses are fewer than 400.
The experience gave Leah a firsthand look at the complicated, sometimes difficult work involved in protecting rhinos in the wild.
It also reinforced why conservation cannot be reduced to a single solution.
Protecting wildlife requires people on the ground, scientific research, veterinary care, habitat protection, monitoring, education and organizations willing to invest in the long-term work.
Why Longneck Manor Invests in Its People
Leah's trip was made possible through an investment by Longneck Manor.
And that matters.
Longneck Manor isn't simply interested in providing exceptional care for the animals that live here. We believe that the people responsible for their care should have opportunities to continually learn, grow and experience conservation beyond our gates.
Leah wasn't even the first member of the Longneck Manor team to make a conservation trip like this.
She was the fourth!
And another team member is planned to have the opportunity next year.
For Longneck Manor, that investment is part of the bigger picture.
Our animal care professionals spend their days building relationships with individual animals—learning their behaviors, earning their trust and providing the highest level of care possible.
But those animals are also ambassadors for their species.
Seeing giraffes, rhinos, elephants and lions in a zoological setting is meaningful.
Seeing those same species in the wild—and understanding the challenges they face there—creates a powerful full-circle connection.
Leah says that is exactly what made the trip so meaningful to her.
“I think it's really important for people who work in the zoo field to be able to experience this because it really makes it a full circle moment,” she explains. “Seeing them in a zoo is beautiful. It's amazing. But seeing why we're doing it and who we're trying to spread this message for…”
That's the connection Longneck Manor wants to create.
From Africa Back to Texas
Leah returned to Longneck Manor with more than photographs and stories.
She returned with a deeper understanding of the animals she works with every day—and a renewed desire to help protect their wild counterparts.
“I work with these animals every day at Longneck Manor,” Leah says, “but seeing [them] in the wild really made me want to preserve them for future generations to see them that way as well.”
That sentence captures something fundamental about Longneck Manor's approach to conservation.
The animals here matter because the animals in the wild matter.
Our giraffes, rhinos and other animal ambassadors give guests an opportunity to make a personal connection with wildlife. That connection can turn an animal from something you see in a documentary or photograph into something you care about on a much deeper level.
And when people care, they have a reason to protect.
A Once-in-a-Lifetime Experience With a Lasting Impact
If Leah could bring Longneck Manor guests with her for one moment from the entire trip, she already knows what she'd choose.
It would be the two-mile walk to find the lions.
The hike itself was challenging. The adrenaline made the journey out easier; the walk back was another story.
But then the lions appeared.
The team counted them. They listened to them. They watched them emerge.
And Leah says she still struggles to find the words to describe what it felt like.
“It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
For Leah, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
For Longneck Manor, it represents something else, too: an opportunity to put our conservation philosophy into practice.
Because supporting conservation isn't only about writing a check or talking about wildlife protection.
Sometimes it's about putting people in the field.
Giving them experiences that change their perspective.
Investing in their knowledge.
And bringing what they learn back home.
That's how conservation becomes a full-circle experience.
From Africa to Texas.
From the wild to Longneck Manor.
And from the people who dedicate their lives to caring for animals to the guests who come here and learn why those animals—and their wild counterparts—are worth protecting.
Experience the Connection
At Longneck Manor in Fredericksburg, Texas, guests have the opportunity to meet giraffes, rhinos and other animal ambassadors through intimate, educational animal encounters.
But the experience goes beyond the encounter.
It's an opportunity to learn more about these remarkable animals, the people who care for them and the conservation work that helps protect their counterparts in the wild.
Come for the animals. Leave with a deeper understanding of why they matter.
