At the Wildlife Rescue Centre volunteers usually work long days, around 8-9 hours 6 days a week. Without the invaluable contribution from volunteers the center would simply not be able to function. Although difficult at times the volunteer work is highly rewarding.
We take our rescue and rehabilitation work very seriously. Please be aware the project is strictly hands off. Volunteers will have no physical interaction with animals but will provide the essential daily and long-term needs of the animals, such as feeding, cleaning enclosures and providing stimulation in the form of behavioral and environmental enrichments.
There are two volunteer coordinators present to facilitate to the needs of the volunteers as well as to organize the daily schedule. Working hours are generally from 06:30 to 17:00 depending on the job the volunteers are on for the day. There are breaks for breakfast and lunch. Although every working day is different with different tasks to carry out, there are several jobs which need to be done daily.
06:30-08:00 Preparation of food for the animals and feeding them, assisting with cleaning the enclosures
08:00-09:00 Breakfast
09:00-12:00 Scrubbing pools, water rounds, preparing and distributing behavioral enrichments, assisting with environmental enrichments and any other projects that need doing around the center (maintenance work, painting, digging, etc.)
12:00-13:00 Lunch
13:00-17:00 Afternoon preparation of food for the animals, feeding them, water rounds, sweeping and cleaning the center
17:00-18:00 Personal time (usually used for showering!)
18:00-19:00 Dinner.
19:00 onwards Personal time to socialize with other volunteers, walk into the village (must be in groups of two or more), or take a taxi to Hua Hin or Cha Am. We encourage volunteers to keep the noise down after 22:00 to avoid disturbing the wildlife.
The types and variety of duties will largely depend on the duration of stay of each volunteer, and number and skills of volunteers participating. Some of the work is also seasonal and dependent on available resources on-site at the time.