5 wildlife volunteering experiences where you can really make a difference
From tending lions and leopards in Namibia to rescuing fruit bats in Australia – introducing some of the best wildlife volunteering experiences
1. Elephants, Chiang Mai, Thailand
On the edge of a rain forest, Elephant Nature Park shelters rescued elephants
Feed, bathe and nurse sick, wounded or distressed elephants, along with looking after the resident warthogs, water buffalo, cats and dogs. Created by Lek Chailert, a young woman named on Time magazine’s list of conservation heroes, it allows elephants to live free of the brutality of tourist trekking camps and circuses.
After they heal, Lek transfers the elephants to her Elephant Haven, a 2,000-acre retirement home. One of the highlights is the weekly overnight hike through the jungle with these gentle giants to the mountaintop retreat. You camp under the stars on a wooden escarpment on cliff face while the elephants enjoy their night of freedom. It’s pretty primitive and you have to bring along all your food and water, and use a hole-in-the-earth toilet.
Sitting around a fire, the Karen caretakers will tell you about Thai history and how they mistreated them. As you lay tucked in your sleeping bag, all you can hear are the sounds of night creatures and the elephants’ cowbells as they roam around.
Like this? Don’t miss Walking With Elephants – a volunteer’s experience of Elephant Nature Park
2. Wild horses, Lompoc, California, USA
Return to Freedom provides a safe haven for rescued wild horses
Set in the wine region where Sideways was filmed outside of Los Angeles, the 300-acre ranch is among a few private preserves that let stallions, mares and foals roam freely and form natural family bands. (Most American mustangs are being rounded up by the thousands and shipped to slaughterhouses or shoved into long-term holding pens).
The work can be hard and grubby, from throwing hay off a pick-up truck every morning to mending fences, but there’s the joyful aspect of tending the rescues and socialising motherless foals with the aim of finding them loving homes. With the wilder and shyer ones, at first you worry about be kicked or trampled but the gentleness of the horses is calming.
Like humans, they crave companionship. When they stare back at you with soulful eyes or wander over for a chin scratch, the feeling can be pretty overwhelming. Volunteers stay in charming little log cabins. In your downtime, you can explore the local vineyards and swim or surf at the nearby beach.
3. Big cats and baboons, Gobabis, Namibia
A remote family-run refuge where you can do rare hands-on work with exotic orphans
An oasis in the stark, wild beauty of the Kalahari Desert, Harnas Wildlife Sanctuary is home to over 600 animals. All the rescues have names and are treated as family by the staff and volunteers, who regularly share their beds with lion cubs or baby baboons and bottle-feed infant giraffes.
One of the biggest thrills is taking groups of baboons out for their afternoon walks across the desert and playing ball with cheetahs. As Namibia has an abundance of wildlife, lions, leopards, cheetahs and baboons – considered a nuisance by farmers – are often shot leaving orphans.
After 38 years of struggles and small miracles, Harnas has evolved into southern Africa’s largest wildlife orphanage and attracts volunteers from all over the world. You can sleep in the communal lodges or private luxury cottages, which for over-30s is essential.
Another unexpected thrill: some of the resident dogs and roaming 60-odd moggies will share the bed with you so it feels like a home-away-from home.
