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Animal Conservation Volunteering Abroad

Animal Conservation Volunteering Abroad Projects

IFRE Best Affordable Animal Conservation Volunteering Abroad Projects

Are you an animal lover? Are you looking for a safe, affordable and life-changing animal conservation volunteering abroad project? By taking part in the volunteering with animals project abroad you will be contributing to saving the lives of rare and endangered animals. Volunteering abroad gives you a unique chance to explore a completely new country, a variety of communities, ecosystems and people.

IFRE has an incredible selection of animal conservation volunteering opportunities in many countries across Asia, South Africa, South America and Central America. You get to choose from a variety of projects that cater to an array of passions, ideas, interests and budgets.

The volunteer working with animal projects, includes the Save our wildlife project, Monkey project, Elephant conservation project, Private game farm, Sea turtle conservation project and more. The choice is yours and IFRE is here to help you.

Thinking about travelling abroad and making a difference? Get more info now!

Benefits of Animal Conservation Volunteering Abroad Projects

Measure your priorities:

As an animal conservation volunteer, you get to experience once in a lifetime memories, where you get to measure your priorities and help develop your perception of the world. If you are a college graduate, you might find a passion for caring for animals and can advance your career in the field of animal conservation.

Learning opportunities:

If you are pursuing your career in the animal conservation field, then this volunteering with animals abroad project is an awesome learning opportunity for you. You will work with rare and endangered animals and get to learn about their nature and natural habitat. This will help you achieve your goals. You also get to visit a new country and experience the way of life of its people. You will also experience new wildlife and landscapes.

Reduces stress and increases self-confidence:

Volunteering and helping others will keep you mentally stimulated and provide a sense of purpose. When you participate in this program, you will be able to reduce your stress level and boost your self-confidence. You get to learn valuable life lessons, such as interpersonal skills, teamwork skills and social skills.

Teamwork Skills:

Another key benefit of the animal conservation volunteer abroad project is the ability to develop many skills, such as teamwork skills, interactive skills and more. You get to work with a wide variety of people from around the world while saving endangered wild animals. This will help you improve your interacting skills, leadership skills and teamwork skills.

Best Affordable Animal Conservation Volunteering Abroad Projects

IFRE offers you an amazing opportunity to experience an awesome selection of life-changing projects that cater to different interests, goals, budgets and destination dreams.

Save our wildlife (Namibia)

Namibia is home to a wide variety of rare birds and wild animals. Namibia is the first African country to include protection of the environment in its constitution. The Namibian government gave local communities the opportunity to conserve their flora and fauna through the creation of communal conservancies.

These communal conservancies, governmental agencies and nonprofit organizations have been trying to restore the population of several endangered wild animals and birds. IFRE has designed this animal conservation volunteering project in Namibia with the aim to support these organisations and invites you to join and contribute.

The aim of this project is to provide volunteers with an amazing opportunity to experience the African wilderness while contributing to conservation programs. You are key to the success of this special place, and all the money raised through the volunteering program goes directly back into the project, which provides employment, healthcare, education and accommodation to the local Bushman community. It also ensures the rescue, survival and rehabilitation of orphaned and injured African wildlife.

When you join this project, you get a rare and exciting chance to actively participate in the conservation of African wildlife. The sanctuary currently provides a safe refuge for orphaned and injured wildlife, including a number of lions, leopards, cheetahs, wild dogs, caracals and baboons.

As a volunteer, you will be caring for and feeding the animals on a daily basis as well as serving to preserve and develop the sanctuary. You  become surrogate parents of the orphaned baby baboons who need constant and genuine support and attention. Volunteers get a unique opportunity to work alongside carnivore specialists and in the conservation research program.

Monkey Project (South Africa)

IFRE invites you to join and contribute to this conservation and restoration project. This animal conservation volunteer project abroad has been involved in primate rehabilitation for 16 years and are considered the “Vervet Monkey Specialists”. The project  focuses on taking care of monkeys, however, volunteers will also take part in conserving other animals and bird species. Volunteers will work at a sanctuary where any orphaned and/or injured animals get treated, and then are released back to their natural habitat.

The main objective of this project is to research and document the behavioral activities of captive monkeys, baboons and other wild animals. This project needs volunteers not only to help with the everyday running of the center, but also to assist with educating people on monkeys and helping with the release process.

As a volunteer on this monkey conservation volunteering project in South Africa, you will be involved in various conservation activities, including feeding baby monkeys and baboons, help prepare for releases, chopping down grasses, assisting with medical procedures (stitching wounds, wound dressing, ministering medicines and parasite treatment), assisting with measurements and filling in report forms on admission and personal caring to traumatized monkeys and other animals.

We have been collaborating with local South African agencies, and  sent thousands of volunteers to assist with the monkey and  baboon rehabilitation program since 2006. Over the past few years, the project has really become successful and our volunteers have been able to make a valuable contribution to primate conservation.

No specific skills and qualifications are required to join this project, however, you should have a strong love and passion to help wild animals. You should also be open-minded, dedicated and should respect South African cultures and traditions.

Desert Elephants

Do you enjoy getting up close and personal with the largest land mammal? If so, the desert elephant project in Namibia is the best volunteer working with animals abroad for you.

Namibia is famous for being home to a wide variety of wild animals, including the largest land mammal, the elephant. The government, several communal conservancies and other entities have been trying to conserve the elephants and other wild animals by providing them with food and safe habitats. However, these conservancies have not been able to provide adequate support and care to the deserted elephants due to the lack of sufficient resources and manpower. IFRE invites you to join this project and contribute to preserve the desert elephants.

This desert elephant project in Namibia is about making a difference in the conservation of desert elephants. This project focuses on ensuring the safety and security of the communities who live with the local herds. It’s a practical conservation project and you are a precious element to the conservation work.

When you join this volunteering with animals abroad project, you will not only make a difference, but also get to explore one of the world’s most beautiful deserts. Cooking over a campfire, sleeping under the stars, and experiencing the wilderness will indeed provide you with an experience of a lifetime. You get to spend time learning about the desert elephants of the region and witness them in their own habitat with highly knowledgeable project managers.

As a volunteer, you will travel to the local Namibian farms, where you spend a week building protective walls around water resources, or constructing alternative water points for the elephants. You will also get involved in the elephant patrolling program. The objective of this project is to track the elephants, record data about births, deaths and new elephants, GPS their positions and take ID shots and notes about each and every elephant.

Private game farm (South Africa)

Situated in the Lowveld of South Africa adjacent to the Kruger National Park, the Private Game Reserve (65000 hectares) is home to a large number of wild animals and birds, and invites animal-loving volunteers from around the world to enjoy and take part in the wildlife conservation program. There are no  substantial boundaries between the reserve and Kruger National Park. This place offers you an exceptional stay in an open ecological system called the Greater Kruger Park. This is not a human-made Big 5 area, but it is the largest of the few areas in South Africa that are still untouched wilderness.

The project focuses on education rather than volunteer work. The training programs and study courses of this project have been designed to bring students into close contact with nature, wildlife and conservation. This program encourages eco-friendly utilization of South Africa’s nature and wilderness resources and points out ways of generating revenue to be re-invested in conservation and preservation.

This animal conservation volunteer opportunity not only gives you a chance to help  endangered flora, but  you also get to experience the African Big 5, along with  several other birds and animals during walks and drives. When you join this project, you will be taken “behind the scenes”, and are taught how to build your own game farm and about the principles of wildlife management, conservation and preservation of the ecosystem.

Elephant Conservation (Thailand)

Are you interested in spending time with the elephants while caring for the sick and  young? If so, you should check out this Elephant Conservation Project in Thailand. IFRE’s  project provides you with a unique and rare chance to contribute to help conserve the elephants. You will spend your days walking side-by-side being a friend of these massive animals while also caring for the sick and young charming elephants. The elephants living in this sanctuary are too old, wounded and sick, and are seeking your help desperately.

The elephant conservation project is located in Surin, Thailand. Surin is known as the Elephant Province as it’s home to over 400 of these majestic animals. The elephants were originally captured from wild jungles and used as farming ‘machinery’ by Surin’s founding fathers.  Now that logging has been outlawed,

Several non-profit organizations and government agencies are trying to take care of these elephants, however, they are unable to provide adequate food, support and care due to the lack of sufficient resources and manpower. These elephants are in helpless situations as the owner cannot afford their food. Some owners take them to the streets of big cities to beg for money from tourists, which is illegal, very dangerous and harmful for the elephants.

When you join the Elephant Project in Thailand as a volunteer you will take part in feeding, grooming and taking care of these elephants. If you have previous veterinary experience, then you can also provide medical treatment with the help of local veterinary personnel. You will also spend three nights each week living in the home of the village elder and his family.

No specific skills are required to volunteer for this animal conservation volunteer project in Thailand. However, you are expected to be flexible, patient and should possess a passion and love for animals. You will get wet and dirty on this project so having the ability to live outside of your comfort zone is also recommended.

Elephant orphanage(Pinnawala)

If you are an animal lover and looking for an animal conservation volunteer abroad opportunity, then this project is for you. This is a unique and exciting volunteering opportunity as you get to work in beautiful Sri Lanka at the most popular tourist attraction, the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage.

This Elephant orphanage is a breeding refuge for rescued, injured and abused wild elephants. Founded by the Department of Wildlife Conservation in 1976, the orphanage conserves 84 orphaned elephants found in the jungle and invites volunteers from around the world to contribute.

No specific qualifications are required to join this elephant orphanage project in Sri Lanka. You just need to have a passion for working with elephants and  be willing to contribute in whatever way possible to ensure they remain healthy and safe at all times.

When you join this project, you will work at the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage from 8:30-11:30 a.m and helping the mahouts, or elephant handlers in various tasks. You will also help the mahouts by brushing the elephants and working with the private elephants in the Pinnawala Elephant Safari Center after 4:00 p.m. When you are not volunteering, you get to explore the natural and cultural beauties of Sri Lanka.

Turtle Project (Osa Peninsula)

Costa Rica is home to many sea turtle nesting beaches as well as feeding and mating grounds for several species of sea turtles. However, the population of turtles in Costa Rica has been decreasing over the past few decades due to unsustainable and harmful fishing practices, devastating human impacts and habitat destruction.

While volunteering with animals abroad, you will work in collaboration with local staff to save the sea turtles in a number of  ways, including Collecting and relocating eggs and hatchlings, assisting locals with  research, data collection and more. You will also try to keep the beach pollution free, helping to ensure that each and every egg and baby turtle gets protection. The nesting season for the different species of sea turtles varies. The project mainly works with endangered Hawksbill and Black sea turtles.

To take part in this volunteer turtle conservation project in Costa Rica, no specific skill or requirement is needed. However, you must be able to understand basic Spanish  and must be able to swim. You must be  18 or above. If are underage you will need your parents’ permission or for them to accompany you.

You have to walk long distances, so you need to be physically fit. The project won’t tolerate the consumption of any illegal drugs or alcohol. Volunteers are expected to dispose of cigarette stubs at a disposable bin. Volunteers must also have  personal insurance.

As well as the Animal Conservation Volunteering Abroad Projects, IFRE offers a range of affordable volunteer opportunities that cater to different passions, budgets, skills and interests. You get to choose from alternative spring break programs, best gap year volunteering abroad program, best volunteer opportunities for high school students and so on. Contact IFRE today to learn more about the places and programs!


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