Elephant Refuge and Wildlife Rescue Center
Would you like to work as a volunteer with animals in their natural habitat? This package combines two amazing volunteer projects in Thailand where you as volunteer can help and contribute to the well-being of the rescued animals. During a period of minimum two weeks, you will help as a volunteer in the Wildlife Rescue Center and Elephant Refuge in Thailand.
Two volunteer projects combined
The Wildlife Rescue Center and Elephant Refuge are two projects of the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand which runs several projects in Thailand and Laos. Some of the main objectives of the WFFT are to:
- rescue maltreated and/or neglected animals
- provide refuge for sick and disabled animals
- rehabilitate and reintroduce animals to the wild where possible and care for those who are unable to be returned.
This is exactly what you will encounter on both volunteer projects. You can choose yourself in which project you would like to start as a volunteer and then afterwards continue to the next project. We would advise you to start volunteering in the Wildlife Rescue Center project and later continue to the Elephant Refuge, as the working days are longer and more intense.
Wildlife Rescue Center
The Wildlife Rescue Center is home to a variety of rescued birds and other animals such as gibbons, macaques, lorises, sun and moon bears, civets, and other felids. The center tries to provide them with enclosures as close to nature as possible to rehabilitate the animals and where possible reintroduce them to the wild.
What are your tasks as volunteer?
As a volunteer at this project, you will spend the majority of your time on preparing and serving the food to the animals and cleaning their enclosures. Besides this, you will also help with the maintenance of the animal enclosures and facilities on the project. The Wildlife Rescue Center does not support the "hands on" contact with animals, so as volunteer you will not have any physical contact with the animals (unless explicitly permitted by a WRC-staff member).
Every morning you will be assigned different tasks. These tasks can consist of:
- preparing and serving of food to the different animals
- cleaning the animal enclosures
- general maintenance
- reparations to fences and animal facilities.
Even though a big focus of the project is to give the animals a life as close to nature as possible and possibly reintroduce them to the wild, some animals will never leave the center anymore. They would unfortunately not be able to survive in the wild and will spend the rest of their lives in the center.
Elephant Refuge
Besides giving refuge to domesticated elephants, many of the animals that stay at the Elephant Refuge have been rescued from a life in which they were trained and forced to work on the streets as begging tools and tourist attractions, where they had to entertain tourists by performing tricks. Many of the rescued elephants are in a bad state when they arrive at the center and also often need to receive medical attention and supervision. In the center of the WFFT, they will receive the necessary help and care to be later released in the nature if possible.
Most of the elephants here are taken care of in a way that will prepare them for a life out in the nature. As a volunteer, you will have less contact with these animals as they have to learn to become independent and be able to survive on there own in the wild. Some other elephants will never leave the center anymore as their condition or state would not allow them to survive on their own. They will spend the rest of their lives at the center as happy and well taken care of as possible.
What are your tasks as volunteer?
As a volunteer at the elephant project, you will be taught everything you need to know about the care of these magnificent animals. During the project, you will work hands-on with the elephants and some of the tasks you will get as a volunteer are:
- collecting and harvesting food for the elephants
- washing them
- feeding them throughout the day
- walking them to a close by lake for a swim
- cleaning and maintaining their enclosures.
Every working day is different, although there are some tasks that will have to be performed daily. In the evenings, you are free so you can either stay at the center for dinner and relax or go to Hua Hin or Cha Am with some other volunteers.
Duration: min. 15 days
Price: from €598
What's included in the price?
- 1 week Wildlife Rescue Center
- 1 week Elephant Refuge
- Training and guidance at both of the projects
- All accommodation
- 3/4 pax dorm room
- Daily breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Lunch and dinner prepared by cooks
- Financial contribution to the projects for the care of the animals
- Free WiFi
Remarks:
- Flight tickets are not included in the price
- Pick-up transfer to the project is available
- You need to be minimum 18 years old to be able to partcipate at this project
