Animals
Volunteering with animals on your gap year is an incredible thing to do, and if you want to work with animals in the future then it will look great on your CV.
There are hundreds of opportunities to volunteer with animals, many you won’t have thought of before. You can rehabilitate Orang-Utans in Borneo to darting lions from a helicopter in South Africa to taking care of tigers in Thailand. The only thing that’s limiting you is your ambition and imagination.
Volunteering with animals is a real ‘hands on’ experience and you’ll be dealing with some of the world’s most endangered species on a daily basis, saving them from extinction.
Whatever your skills or amount of time you have available to offer, there are many animals who will benefit from you volunteering.
Volunteering is an amazing experience, not only for you, but for everyone you work with.
Help protect turtles on Costa Rica’s tropical beaches
Countries:
Costa Rica
Duration:
from 1 Weeks to 3 Months
Patrol the Pacific beaches at night, watching for mother turtles to come up the beach to lay their eggs. Help baby turtles scramble back to the sea after their hatching- hundreds of baby turtles is a sight to behold! Volunteer in the local community, teaching or looking after the kids while conserving the paradise of Costa Rica.
Call: 0845 344 7615
Local community & Wildlife Volunteering South Africa
Countries:
South Africa
Duration:
from 2 Weeks to 6 Weeks
Volunteer with underprivileged children and help conserve Africa's amazing wildlife! Our unique, all-inclusive programmes give you the opportunity to make a difference, whilst experiencing the beauty South Africa has to offer with our activity filled programmes.
Big 5 Conservation
Countries:
South Africa
Duration:
from 1 Months to 3 Months
£75 discount for volunteers who combine more than one PoD project! Experience amazing Big 5 encounters (lion, elephant, leopard, rhino and buffalo). Receive a 1 week bush craft training course and contribute to importnat wildlife conservation research whilst living on a private game reserve.
Work at an elephant sanctuary in Sri Lanka
Countries:
Nepal,
Sri Lanka
Duration:
from 2 Weeks to 12 Weeks
Head to the paradise island of Sri Lanka and explore the beautiful small town of Kegalle. You will help to care for injured or ageing elephants whose owners could no longer afford to look after them and can get involved with all areas of the project.
Call: 0845 344 7592
Orangutans + Jungle + Tropical Islands
Countries:
Malaysia
Duration:
from 6 Weeks to 10 Weeks
Winner of BEST GAP YEAR Company - Sunday Times. Search for the elusive orangutan while getting stuck into conservation and community projects deep in the jungle and on a tropical island.
Call: 0845 344 7514
Malaysia Orang-utan Experience
Countries:
Malaysia
Duration:
from 28 Days
A once in a lifetime chance to get up close to and help to preserve increasingly rare and threatened great ape. With just 20,000 left in the wild in Asia you can make a real difference to orang-utan conservation.
Work at a wildlife sanctuary on Kangaroo Island, South Australia
Countries:
Australia
Duration:
from 2 Weeks to 4 Weeks
Australia wildlife conjures up thoughts of cute Koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, possoms and on this project you will get to see them in their natural habitat, located on the stunning Kangaroo Island what more could you want.
Help protect turtles in Costa Rica
Countries:
Costa Rica
Duration:
from 5 Weeks to 10 Weeks
Protect species of turtles on stunning beaches in Costa Rica. Playa Hermosa literally means beautiful beach. Thousands of turtles come to lay their eggs every year on Playa Hermosa. Volunteers will get the chance to take part in nightly turtle patrols to help monitor and protect the eggs from poachers and other predators. Monitoring the nesting of the turtles gives us important information to conserve this important species. Raleigh volunteers will be living in a jungle camp environment on the beaches of Costa Rica.
Call: 0845 344 7600
Orangutans and community education on Java, Indonesia
Countries:
Indonesia
Duration:
from 1 Weeks to 2 Weeks
Working with orangutans on the beautiful island of Java and helping the local community with their English skills, this really is two great projects in one along with a stunning location! Wow!
Call: 0845 344 7592
South Africa Wild Dogs Conservation Project
Countries:
South Africa
Duration:
from 2 Weeks to 12 Weeks
Volunteer in the South African Bush and help protect the fascinating wild dog species from extinction
Wildlife Conservation Volunteering South Africa
Countries:
South Africa
Duration:
from 2 Weeks to 3 Weeks
Volunteer and help conserve Africa's amazing wildlife! Our unique, all-inclusive programmes give you the opportunity to make a difference, whilst experiencing the beauty South Africa has to offer with our activity filled programmes.
Vets Go Wild
Countries:
South Africa
Duration:
from 16 Days
Take part in Vets Go Wild – as seen on ITV’s Safari Vet School! If you are looking for a hands-on Africa vet experience and need to fulfill a portion of your Extra Mural Study (EMS) requirements, Vets Go Wild have the perfect animal care courses for you, featuring the opportunity to work with vets in South Africa.
Elephant and mountain adventure in Thailand
Countries:
Thailand
Duration:
from 3 Weeks to 3 Weeks
Help to care for gentle giants and work side by side with local elephant keepers in Thailand! You’ll feed these amazing creatures, trek through the breathtaking mountains of Chiang Mai, board a bamboo raft and ride an elephant through the jungle. Spend 2 weeks working side by side elephant keepers in Surin province, Thailand. Feeding elephants a hearty breakfast full of leaves and branches will be just one your daily tasks. Then you are off on an action-packed adventure through northern Thailand. You will, board a bamboo raft for some awesome wildlife viewing, ride an elephant through the jungle and then even spend the night in a remote hill tribe village where you will have a chance to really bond with the local community and experience their uniquely peaceful way of life.
Call: 0845 344 7592
Work with elephants (and bees!) in rural Tanzania
Countries:
Tanzania
Duration:
from 5 Weeks to 10 Weeks
Become a Raleigh International venturer and work on our hugely exciting elephant projects in rural Tanzania! Raleigh International is a youth and sustainable development charity; our expeditions are a combination of rewarding community projects, fascinating environmental projects and exhilarating adventure. In Tanzania our expedition projects range from working with elephants, to sustainable fuel projects, to trekking across stunning national parks.
Call: 0845 344 7600
Horse Riding, Cattle Mustering and Wildlife Conservation
Countries:
South Africa
Duration:
from 2 Weeks to 4 Weeks
The most fun that you can have on a horse! Combine important wildlife conservation volunteer work focusing on the endangered Black Rhino and African elephant, with cattle mustering and camp-outs - all done on horse-back! Live amongst the wildlife and get a behind the scenes look at life on an African game reserve. A must for horse and wildlife enthusiasts!
