Eight students at Tracker Academy, a premier wildlife tracking academy in South Africa, transform their minds to become the best tracker.
By training the next generation of trackers, Tracker Academy aims to create an industry standard for tracking as a scientific and professional pursuit, and integrate these ancient skills into modern conservation. In Southern Africa alone, 90% of traditional tracking skills have been lost in the last 40 years.
The film starts on Day 1 of training at Tracker Academy and follows the transformation of eight students over a year as they cultivate the tracker mindset and learn to read the language of nature.
Training is far from a smooth ride. Taking up to twenty years to master, tracking is a rigorous profession rooted in a disciplined mindset of critical analysis and creative conjecture. Along their journey, students learn that tracking is much more than identifying tracks and signs; it is a compass for life.
Many students arrive with little to no experience, and some are former subsistence hunters. If they fail to perform, they will lose an opportunity to change their lives. If they succeed, they will land a career-track job in conservation and set a precedent for the future of their profession.
