Volunteering For a Wild Animal Sanctuary

Volunteering for a Wild Animal Sanctuary

By Susan Gerle

I’ve had the opportunity to visit some animal sanctuaries in my travels.  The most recent ones were an elephant sanctuary and a tiger sanctuary, both outside of Chiang Mai, Thailand.  Before the visits we took the time to find out how the animals were treated.  So many organizations are out there to make huge dollars from the tourists.  They really aren’t that concerned about the animals’ welfare as long as the CEO gets his money.  In some organizations very little of the money actually goes back into the coffers to pay the local caretakers and for the animals’ food and medicine.

So how do you find out which ones are good sanctuaries and whether the animals are treated well?  One of the easiest ways now, of course, is to research the places on the internet.  Sites, like Trip Advisor and Lonely Planet, will have travelers sharing their good or bad experiences.  Social media like facebook often have sites where you can read about people’s visits.  If you are already on the road and hostelling, there will often be some people who have visited the sites before you and can give you advice.

I was lucky enough to run into a volunteer from Sweden who was working at the tiger sanctuary.  While my travel partner, Jon, went to spend time with young tiger cubs, I had the opportunity to ask lots of questions about his volunteer position.  He had originally signed up for 2 weeks, which was 4 months before.  He had done his research and got advice from different people who had volunteered at the sanctuaries he was interested in. 

His accommodation and food was paid for at the tiger sanctuary he finally chose and he received a small weekly stipend for the 2 weeks he had signed on for.  When he had the opportunity to sign up for a longer stay he had to find his own accommodation but was able to negotiate a weekly stipend to help cover some of his costs.  Obviously he had made a good impression on the owners.

He loved his position and preferred to interact with the animals rather than the tourists.  He hoped to return to university in Sweden in the fall and take his masters in Ethology, the study of animal behavior in their natural environment.  In the meantime he was learning as much as he could about the life cycle of tigers.

I don’t know that volunteer at an animal sanctuary is on my travel bucket list but I plan to keep visiting them in my travels.  I hope to travel to the Serengeti one day to see the annual migration.  I would also like to be up close and personal with a panda one day!

My son and daughter and their spouses are all animal lovers.  Over the years they have also taken an interest in the endangered wild animals around the world.  Instead of receiving Christmas presents I adopt an endangered species through the World Wildlife Fund, which is fine for me.  That way I can at least make a small difference.

If you have had positive or negative experiences with Wildlife Sanctuaries in your travels, please comment on this post.  The more people who are aware of the sanctuaries out there, the more there are who help the animals.