Work with wild animals Updated July 2024 – UNPAID INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITY – Critter Care Wildlife Society in Langley, B.C., Canada.
Are you looking for something rewarding to do this summer? Do you have a passion for wildlife?
Join us at CCWS and help raise and care for orphaned, injured, and ill native B.C. mammal species 🐻🦫🦨🦝🐿️
Our mission statement: Rescue, Rehabilitate, and Release.
- Room and Board 🏡 We provide accommodation on-site for all of our interns at no charge. We have 4 intern cabins on-site housing up to 8 per cabin. Basic food amenities are also provided.
- Daily Schedule ⏰ Wildlife rehabilitation is not a 9-5. The hours can be very long. You are expected to work 5 days a week with 2 non-consecutive days off each week. The general working day begins at 8:45 am and ends around 8 pm with several breaks throughout the day. Milk feeds for the baby animals can start as early as 6am depending on the time of year.
- Your impact: CCWS intakes around 3000 animals a year and with your help, they are given the care they need to return to their native habitat.
General description
- Black Bears
- River Otters
- Raccoons
- Skunks
- Squirrels
- Beavers
- Fawns and many more.
General information
Critter Care is a charity and is not government funded and we solely operate off the generosity of our volunteers and sponsors. We have an intern program where people travel from around the world to get hands-on experience, and interns stay typically ranges from 8 weeks to 4 months. Spring is our busiest time of year, in the baby season we will have up to 25 interns to care for hundreds of baby animals.
During an intern’s stay, they will live on-site, they are provided free lodging and food as they typically raise the animals from a few weeks old and require feeding around the clock. Interns are expected to care for their animals and keep up with other duties as requested such as cleaning/food prep/medicating their animals under supervision.
Internship tasks
Interns are required to go on various rescues and sometimes they have the option to go on a release and watch their grown babies get introduced into the wild. From our experience interns gain valuable experiences working with our wildlife which sets them up for success in almost any industry they wish to pursue.
Since interns come from all over the world they build long-lasting relationships with their peers. Critter Care has become a much needed public service to the community, we slowly developed an education program for youth to teach them the fundamentals of our wild native mammal species and how we are able to coexist with wildlife. Young people love this program as they get to see a wild animal up close and learn basic skills not taught in schools.
What type of host are you?
- Private/Individual/family
What are you looking for help with?
- Animal keeping
- General Help
What’s the mission of your community?
to rehab injured/ sick and orphaned wildlife and release back into the wild. providing care for animals in the community and helping with conservation.
How many volunteers could you host?
- Up to 10 volunteers
When would you need volunteers?
- We accept interns (volunteers) for a minimum of 8 weeks – up to 4 months.
How many hours of help per day?
- 8 hours of help per day (Full Time)
How many days of help per week?
- 5 days per week – 2 days off
Note about the volunteer work and other expectations
Volunteering at Critter Care Wildlife Society is hard work long hours bottle-feeding orphaned wildlife can be tiring. However, releasing ‘your babies’ back into the wild is so rewarding.
Are accommodation and food included?
Yes, we offer food and accommodation
What type of accommodation can you provide?
- Dormitory/shared rooms
Diet – nutrition information
We provided basic foods such as; milk, butter, pasta, bread, beans, etc most is donated. We have people all year round and many never buy any extra food. We frequently have vegans and vegetarians here at the centre. If there is anything special/extra you want or require then you will have to purchase it.
Fees transparency
$200 deposit for the internship and a $25 admin fee (to process paperwork). A $200 deposit will be returned to the intern after completing the volunteering stay requested.
VISA – could you provide Visa support/info/invitation letters?
No, we cannot help with visas but we can offer assistance
Volunteers’ benefits:
- Get hands-on experience handling/working with wildlife.
- Have an excellent reference for anyone wishing to work with animals in the future.
- Meet amazing people from around the world and create friendships that last a lifetime.
This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
What to do in your free time
In the summer we have a trampoline, pool and BBQ area. In addition to a large common room where interns enjoy playing games and hanging out. Staff regularly do team building activities with interns, providing games, quizzes and other fun activities. Interns can visit Vancouver on their days off, go skiing and enjoy all the other actives that the surrounding area has to offer.
Language
English 🇬🇧
How to get to your site
Aeroplane to YVR, and we will organize a lift from the airport to the centre.
Is there internet access?
Yes!
CONTACT DETAILS 🔍📧
For more information or our online application process please visit our website using this link: https://www.crittercarewildlife.org/internship-application
You can also contact our Internship coordinator at crittercare7@shaw.ca with any interests or enquiries.
We look forward to potentially welcoming some of you to our program! Please note we are accepting applications for the remainder of 2024 as well as 2025 with emphasis on this August/ September 2024 due to low numbers. Minimum stay is 4 weeks.
Website: https://www.crittercarewildlife.org/what-we-do 🌐
https://www.instagram.com/critter_care_wildlife/
Hostname: Nathan. W
Host Email: crittercare4@shaw.ca 📧
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