Fish sorting at a fish ladder in Colorado
Welcome to Animal Internships []
Mission[]
In an increasingly over-populated, polluted and stressed world, we want to help connect like minded motivated individuals interested in making a difference. We want to share with other people the amazing educational, conservation and altruistic opportunities to help individual animals, populations and ecosystems in peril. We want people to become involved in conservation at all levels. We understand there is nothing like getting out there and getting involved to motivate individuals to help. We think that many organisations can provide amazing educational and training opportunities by sharing their wealth of experience.
We want people to stop talking about it, and start getting out there. We want to help organisations source useful, helpful, motivated volunteers to help them with their work. We hope such volunteers will go on to be ambassadors for their host organisations.
Animal Internships seeks to collect information about internships and volunteer opportunities around the world which involve animals. This site is intended as a resource for students, interested lay public, scientists, veterinarians, tourists, backpackers, post graduate students, people wanting to increase their work experience, gap year students, retirees, tourists, back-packers and anyone interested in animals in any way.
This is a wiki and we need your help. Please feel free to add any programs you know about which aren't here. If you've been on a program, please help by adding your experiences to the program's page, or in the forum.
How to use this website[]
Finding a volunteer opportunity[]
If you are interested in a particular animal species, work in a specific region, or for a designated time, we suggest you search using these key words then contact the organisations directly. Alternatively browse different opportunities just to see what is out there. If you are feeling like some fun, why not chose a random page!
Disclaimer[]
This website is a wiki and thus is edited and updated continually by the public. Although we do everything we can to supply accurate information, the responsibility for the use of this information is ultimately with the end-user. For your own safety you should always verify every opportunity before making commitments to an organisation. If possible, we recommend you communicate with previous attendees in the forum.
Create a new page entirely[]
Just select "Create a new article" from the menu to the left of the main page and away you go!
How to edit a page[]
If you wish to add or edit a page, it's simple. Just hit the "edit" connection in the section you want to change, and a word processing browser will come up. Start typing, but remember if you are copying and pasting from other sources, please acknowledge them. Please note derogatory or flaming will be removed. Constructive criticism is acceptable, but please be nice, most of these places are simply doing their best.
What to include[]
You can use the other pages as a guide. We think the most important aspects to include are the place by region, main animals involved, cost and approximate time commitments for each placement.
Please make sure you fill in the category section at the bottom of the page: this helps others search for information.
We particularly encourage you to include:
Main species[]
Try to include the common names of the species or groups included rather than the scientific names (e.g. Marsupial and koala, rather than Phascolarctos cinereus)
Cetaceans, Marine Mammals, Pinnipeds
The region[]
Multinational, Africa, North America, South America, Oceania, Asia, Europe, Antarctica
The cost[]
Volunteer: no costs
Pay cost volunteer: a small charge to cover the institute's costs is charged
Ecotourism: the organisation runs as a business, with volunteers contributing to the profit of the business
Paid: the position is a salaried or paid position
The time commitment[]
Short term: < 1 month
Medium term: 1 - 4 months
Long term - 4 months + or ongoing (eg one day a week for six months)
This website is primarily designed for short to medium term work experience, internships and externships. It is not a job seeking website, although if your placement leads to permanent work, we would love to hear from you. Consequently we do not encourage job advertisements. We do accept pages based on long term training positions (internships or residencies) but these should be recurring positions rather than permanent positions.