Season 2 of multi-award-winning local conservation series lauded

Shamwari Untamed Season 2, the sequel to the internationally lauded first series, has won two awards at the International Tourism Film Festival Africa Awards 2025 (ITFFA). Episode 9 won the gold award for a documentary, television and web conservation series, and the 10-part docu-series won the Festival Directors’ Award in the wildlife and conservation category. The series has only recently been put into distribution and is not yet available in South Africa.

The series was co-produced, filmed, directed and edited by wildlife filmmakers Janine Joubert and Andrew Barrat, both long-time collaborators with Shamwari Private Game Reserve. One of Andrew’s documentaries about the largest vulture relocation in Africa previously won a top award at the ITFFA. As with the multi-award-winning first series, Shamwari Untamed Season 2, is told largely from the perspective of wildlife vet, Johan Joubert, and ecologist, John O’Brien.

It captures the team’s latest and most ambitious endeavour: the restoration and re-wilding of newly acquired land and how the area is being transformed into a haven for wildlife. This includes the exhilarating, often dangerous and delicate process of relocating species such as zebras, elephants, rhinos and lions and the steps essential in rebuilding a balanced and thriving ecosystem.

The series also explores the use of solar-powered GPS collars linked to artificial intelligence systems that allow anti-poaching teams to respond quickly if animals are acting unusually. One of the most poignant episodes records the successful rehabilitation and reintroduction of two orphaned elephants to a wild herd.

The series also covers the relocation of 150 vultures to Shamwari, in one of the largest vulture relocation projects ever undertaken and the establishment of a rehabilitation centre and breeding colony. It follows John O’Brien as he tracks the progress of wild litters of lion and cheetah cubs. At the Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, it shows how orphaned baby giraffes and rhinos are cared for and the construction of a new habitat for a meerkat colony, before their release back into the wild.

“The first series was a conservation classic. Andrew and Janine have built on that, and we expect the second series to be every bit as successful. It is a truly accurate, insightful and authentic depiction of a conservation team at work,” said Shamwari CEO, Joe Cloete.

The original Shamwari Untamed series can be found on Netflix here: https://www.netflix.com/za/title/81635357