Orphan Care Internship

Details:

We are looking for devoted and patient individuals to join our orphan care internship. We will accept up to two persons who can ideally commit to volunteering for three months.

60% of our rescues are orphaned animals who have either been abandoned by their mothers or become orphans after their mothers were killed. Raising wild animals is a delicate job, and we follow procedures and take precautionary measures to ensure that the animals get the best opportunity to be raised successfully and released.

As an orphan care intern, you will gain hands-on experience in wildlife rescue and rehabilitation. You will be responsible for assisting to feed the babies throughout the day and on some nights, learning different feeding techniques that are invaluable when it will come to your future career working with wildlife. You will also be expected to assist with cleaning enclosures, medicating orphans, creating and administering enrichment, developing protocols for best practices, and maintaining the nursery organized. You will also get the opportunity to study biological rehabilitation, ethology, and development of wild behavior in reptiles, mammals and birds.

In order to form part of this internship, you will be responsible for feeding
the babies independantly throughout the night, on a number of nights throughout the week, so we are specifically looking for hard-working and dedicated individuals.

Orphan Care internship prerequisites:

Must be at least 18 years of age.
Can ideally commit to three months.
Must be studying for a veterinary nurse, veterinary technician, or animal care-related degree.
Must have at least one month’s experience working with neonates/ orphans.
Can provide at least 2 educational/ professional references.
Successfully completes a Zoom interview.

What do orphan care interns do.

Cleaning orphan enclosures on a daily basis.
Feed the orphans throughout the day and night.
Medicate and treat orphans when necessary.
Diet preparation.
Wild food and browse collection.
Create and administer species-specific enrichment.
Maintain a clean and organized nursery.
Develop species specific protocols for raising orphans.
Research methods and develop devices to reduce imprinting.
Research on orphan care, diet, developmental stages etc…
Develop an independent research project relating to orphan care and present this project at the
end of your stay.

Orphan Care Internship FAQ

While Spanish language skills are a definite plus, applicants must be fluent in English in order to qualify.

We will accept two orphan care interns at one time.

Yes. As an orphan care intern, one of your main duties will be to attend to the orphans throughout the night.

You will be expected to wake up multiple times throughout the night, on multiple nights of the week, to help with the feedings.

This will depend on your veterinary experience, the workload with the orphans, and if we have any veterinary interns at the time.

This will depend on the amount of orphans we are currently caring for and how you manage your time.

If there is time available, you will be able to assist with the rehab center, sanctuary and in the animal kitchen.

The work with the orphans requires a lot of training and practice.

In order to ensure that the orphans receive the best care and the best chance to be raised for release.

We prefer having fewer people that know what to do in the nursery that can commit to a longer period of time.

Yes, you will be expected to undertake research whilst participating in the orphan care internship.

You can expect to develop protocols and procedures for the orphans, research best practices to raise orphans, look into specific diets, investigate methods to reduce imprinting etc.

The volunteer house is just a few steps away from the nursery

No. A big part of your work with this internship will be during the night time. You will therefore be expected to live on site in one of the volunteer houses.

Yes. You will be expected to have at least one month of practical experience caring for orphans.

You will get two days off after every 5 days that you have worked.