He recently retired as Head of the Center for Wildlife Management at the University of Pretoria and held a Marsh Professorship at the University of Vermont, USA.   He has been a guest lecturer for many courses internationally including Nutritional Ecology/Wildlife Nutrition, Nature Reserve Planning, and Environmental Impacts on natural areas. He has been recently appointed as Professor Extraordinaire at North- West University.

Wouter van Hoven is a recognized leader in the field of wildlife management and nutritional biochemistry.  He has presented papers at over fifty international meetings, appeared in 15 televised documentaries,  provided ten chapters in various textbooks, has over eighty  scientific publications, and has completed over two-hundred community outreach and/or consultancy projects , also as a  team leader.  He is a member or serves on the board of a variety of national and international organizations.

He served for 10 years as vice-president of the International Council for Wildlife Conservation.

He was elected as founder president of the Kissama Foundation in Angola which brought wildlife, including elephant, back to a wildlife- sterile landscape. This was the first time that family groups of elephants were kept together and transported with aircraft.  For his leadership in this program, he was awarded the Joseph R. Daly award of the United Nations Environmental Program and the Wild Foundation (USA) for excellence in wildlife conservation, with special emphasis on Angola and the WWF- Nedbank Green Trust Award for “Individuals in Action” category.

He is the founder and CEO of Ecolife Expedition a company that specialises in hands-on training programs for Veterinary students, Wildlife Management , Eco-tourism and Marine Biology Science and Tourism.1,7