Wildlife Sanctuary Supporter

A typical working week runs from Monday to Friday, with each day beginning at 7am and ending around 5pm/6pm. During this time, you will take part in a combination of the activities found below.

Baboon Walk

The sanctuary is home to a number of baboons that have been orphaned as a result of the human-animal conflict. Baboons are often thought of as pests, which in turn sees them shot by farmers. The injured or orphaned baboons are taken in by the sanctuary, and as a volunteer you will help to care for these social animals by accompanying them on enrichment walks, allowing them to exercise their innate abilities such as running and climbing.

Cheetah Run & Observation

Much like baboons, cheetahs have often fallen victim to the human-animal conflict: by venturing onto farms in search of food, these stunning big cats have inadvertently become targets of angry and scared farmers. The sanctuary has taken in many cheetahs over the years that have been injured or orphaned due to conflict. As a number of these cheetahs are unable to be released back into the wild, volunteers help to ensure they have a positive quality of life and one way of doing this is through an exercise enrichment activity. Setting up a pulley-system lure for the cheetahs to chase, you’ll observe the health (and speed!) of the animals as they run past you at up to 130 km/h!

Food Preparation & Animal Feeding

A huge number of animals call the sanctuary home, which means there are many mouths to feed! As a volunteer, you’ll play chef and waiter for the animals, preparing vegetable platters for the herbivores, meat for the carnivores and even milk formula for the little ones. Supervised by the sanctuary staff, you’ll ensure all animals have nutritious and healthy diets and will take turns distributing food at mealtimes.

Carnivore Feeding

Take a front-row seat and witness the sanctuary’s resident carnivores at their most ‘wild’ during their feeding time! You will help to prepare and throw food to cheetahs, leopards, lions and wild dogs, and during the feed, the project facilitator will share their abundant carnivore knowledge with you. This is your chance to learn more about Africa’s impressive carnivores whilst getting to know the animals and their individual stories and personalities!

Enrichment

This is a particularly important element of the sanctuary’s efforts, as enrichment helps to stimulate the animals and therefore will improve their quality of life. You will be tasked with creating an array of activities designed to provoke their senses, such as introducing scented or puzzle-type toys. One example can be found in a previous volunteer group's creation of papier-mâché 'animals': since the 'animals' resembled something the carnivores may have witnessed in the wild, they were quick to tear the creation open. This is a great opportunity to put your creativity to good use!

Project Work

Cleaning, building and maintenance are all necessary aspects of keeping the sanctuary running as smoothly as possible, and you will help to clean enclosures, construct new enclosures or remodel existing ones, fix fences, tackle alien plants and build animal playgrounds. These activities will go a long way towards providing a safe and comfortable home for all of the sanctuary’s animals and are a continuous element of the project.

Reserve Research & Animal Tracking

You will head out onto the neighbouring reserve where you will go in search of free-roaming, high-profile species such as elephants, rhinos, wild dogs and even lions! You’ll learn to track various wildlife species through GPS tracking and by joining a highly skilled Sans tracker who will show you how to find animals using spoor alone. Whilst out the reserve, you’ll retrieve camera trap data and analyse what you gather, helping the research team to monitor how endangered and vulnerable species are adapting to life in the wild.

Anti-Poaching Experience

Spend time with the Anti-Poaching Unit as you help to track and monitor the resident rhinos! For an evening, you’ll join the APU on rhino patrols, where you’ll learn the art of map reading, identifying animal tracks and what it takes to protect these iconic animals from the very real threat of poaching. A night in the bush is a great way to bond with fellow volunteers whilst getting to know and learning from skilled and dedicated rangers. 

Shiloh Wildlife Sanctuary

The neighbouring Shiloh Wildlife Sanctuary was created to care for elephants and rhinos that have been affected by poaching. During your time as a volunteer, you may have the extraordinary opportunity to nurture and care for injured or orphaned rhinos that have fallen victim to poaching and snare incidents. Please note, this is not a guaranteed activity as it depends on whether there are vulnerable rhinos in need at the time of your stay.

Whilst on the project, you will have the weekday evenings and all weekend to relax (please note, however, that the animals do still need to be fed on the weekends, therefore a small amount of time may be set aside for this). You are welcome to spend your free time as you please: head out on a nature walk, go swimming in the onsite pool, or play football against the bushman workers at the site! Additionally, a braai (traditional African barbeque) typically takes place once a week, offering the perfect opportunity for you to sit back and relax with your fellow volunteers.

Should you wish to spend a little time away from the project site during your downtime, we do offer a number of trips at an additional cost.

TimBila Nature Reserve

For an additional £130, you may wish to swap out one of your weeks at the sanctuary for a week at the TimBila Nature Reserve. Known as “the land of second chances”, this area is home to lions and wild dogs previously rescued from human-wildlife conflict that have been given a new lease of life through release onto the reserve. You’ll spend your time here monitoring and tracking the relocated carnivores whilst aiding research efforts to allow the future introduction of rhinos and elephants! You’ll locate wildlife using telemetry and spoor tracking, collect and analyse camera trap data and may even be able to participate in the relocation and release of wildlife during your stay!

Kanaan Conservation and Research Site

Also available for an additional £130, is carnivore research in the stunning Kanaan region where the red sands and impressive dunes contribute to the beautiful scenery. This research site offers an insight to the lives of Namibia’s desert-dwelling wildlife, including (but not limited to) a range of incredible hyenas and big cats! Take part in the recording of statistical data on brown and spotted hyenas, cheetahs and leopards and mapping of this unique region, ultimately aiding the research team in improving their understanding of the wildlife found here. You’ll also have the opportunity to try your hand at sandboarding and will get to feed the two resident cheetahs on site!