Daily volunteer schedule
Volunteers work a 6 day week, the amount of hours worked depend upon the amount of volunteers and current needs at the sanctuary.
A typical volunteer schedule would be:
Start your day at 6.30am
Breakfast from 8 to 9am
Lunch at noon
Workday ends at approximately 5pm
Dinner at 6.30pm
Daily activities are rotated amongst volunteers and include:
Preparing food for the bears, moving them inside and then scattering and hiding the treats in their enclosure to provide an environment close to natural as possible where they would need to forage for sustenance.
Preparing food and feeding the primates.
Creating the special diets for the other animals.
Enrichment for the animals to provide stimulation, thought and fun. Including making puzzle feeders and watching as the primates work out how to get to the treats inside, freezing their food on hot days, or smearing honey in hard to reach areas in the bears enclosure.
Cleaning the cages and enclosures, scrubbing pools.
Providing the animals with water.
Walking in the forest to collect the best leaves for the primates.
Maintaining the wildlife sanctuary.
When new enclosures are being constructed volunteers can assist, as well as in the continual maintenance and re-design of existing enclosures. You will work closely with the animals but we have a no contact policy for the safety of you and the animals as well as the possibility that an animal can be rehabilitated and released.
The rescued animals are wild and can bite and scratch. Disease transmission is possible between animals and people, and can be fatal to young or weak animals. The work at the wildlife sanctuary can be hard in the tropical climate, but as always, you only get out what you put into this unique and rewarding experience.
You can join the sanctuary for a minimum of two weeks up to three months, for longer periods volunteers can speak directly to the director at the centre.
Got any questions about volunteering with wildlife in Thailand? Try our Thailand Wildlife Sanctuary Frequently Asked Questions.