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As a volunteer at Care for Wild Africa Rhino Sanctuary your role will be very hands-on. Depending on the animals being cared for and your areas of interest, you’ll get involved in many activities.
This is how you will help:
Rehabilitation, care and husbandry
As part of a dedicated team, you’ll help get animals back to full health and begin their long journey towards release back into the wild. Where a successful release is not possible, you’ll instead help to create a sanctuary for the animals to stay as long-term residents.
- Provide animal care and husbandry for orphaned rhino
- Prepare animal feeds and provide hands-on help with feeding
- Stabilise newly arrived orphaned calves and assist in emergency medical support
- Integrate stabilised calves into a group of similar-aged individuals
- Enrich animals’ lives through fitness, play and creating a natural setting in captivity
- Occasionally assist in bringing older rhinos that spend the day in the wild back to the protection of the centre for the night
- Participate in the vital daily routine of the centre, including mucking out the animals’ living spaces, cleaning their water troughs and the bottles used to feed rhino calves
Research, monitoring and practical conservation work
Volunteers like you are vital to the success and day-to-day running of Care for Wild.
- Get your hands dirty cleaning and maintaining wildlife enclosures
- Monitor the social dynamics within the rhino groups
- Assist with researching rhino stress hormone levels (seasonal)
Veterinary nursing
Most animals arrive at wildlife rehabilitation centres with some level of injury or trauma. Baby rhino in particular arrive severely traumatised, having suffered the loss of their mother, attacks by poachers and predators. Depending on your level of experience, you’ll work as a vet or nursing assistant to treat wounds and infections, as well as providing intensive care.
- Assist with the treatment and care of injured animals
- Help dress wounds, give medical treatment and monitor sick animals
- Remove ticks by hand and apply insecticides
- Perform regular health checks
- Help prepare a nutritious diet
Caring for young wildlife
Care for Wild Africa Rhino Sanctuary’s committed and experienced team will provide detailed lectures on the theory behind hand-rearing and infant care. You’ll also take responsibility for the development of individual baby rhino.
- Assist the conservation team in hand-rearing orphaned rhinos and other animals
- Prepare milk formula for the youngest animals
- Bottle-feed young rhino and keep records of feeding behaviour, weight gain and development
- Assist with the integration of young rhinos into a crash (the collective noun for a group of rhino)