As the first ‘People and Wildlife Centre’ of its kind in the world, we offer volunteers the unique opportunity to help us not only with wild animal rescue, rehabilitation and release but also in education and community projects that are making a real difference to wildlife conservation within the local communities. Enthusiastic and hardworking volunteers are absolutely crucial to the success of the project, supporting our work in animal care, primate release, education, community outreach, marketing, eco-tourism, ecological research and habitat management.
You will be working primarily at the centre, which is an internationally award winning project comprising of 120 hectares of protected and pristine wilderness right in the heart of Malawi’s capital city, Lilongwe. Permanent animal residents include primates, carnivores and reptiles and - since the centre is the only wildlife sanctuary in Malawi - there are new arrivals that need our help every week.
The centre is also open to the public and in addition to guided wildlife tours there are also over 6km of wilderness trails to enjoy, and hundreds of local families and school children are welcomed through the gates every week. Malawi is an extremely friendly country, known as the ‘warm heart of Africa’ so you can’t fail to get to know the local community through the visitors and fabulous staff, and volunteers have such a great time with us that many extend their stay!
For those interested in wildlife responsibilities include:
- General animal care: Our local animal carers are responsible for hundreds of animals, and always appreciate support on cleaning, feeding and maintenance.
- Orphan care: as the only wildlife sanctuary in Malawi we are always taking in rescued, orphaned and injured animals. We rely on volunteers for orphan care, which could mean hand raising a baby monkey or a duiker.
- Enrichment: we work hard to ‘enrich’ the lives of our residents every single day, so volunteers can get involved in making enrichment toys and testing them out on the animals.
- Vet support: As a large wildlife centre our animals do on occasion require veterinary work. Therefore you may get the opportunity to shadow our vet and help on tasks such as full health checks on all new arrivals, performing regular vaccinations and check-ups on all the animals or help with emergency operations.
- Release programme: Volunteers are a big help in tracking and monitoring of wildlife in the initial stages of release both within our own wilderness area and at our many release sites which have previously included Kasungu National Park, Kuti Wildlife Park and sites along Lake Malawi.
- Ecology and habitat management: We have launched an exciting new project at Kuti Wildlife Park, a huge reserve just an hour from Lilongwe. Volunteers can get involved with game counts, anti-poaching patrols, enjoy bicycle safaris and experience living in true African wilderness.
The Centre also operates an extensive education and community outreach programme, and projects that we need help on include:
- Education programmes: we welcome hundreds of school children through the gates every week and volunteers can help our education team to develop and deliver our education modules both on site and within the schools themselves.
- Outreach support: working with the most vulnerable members in the community, we have a number of projects including adult and child literacy classes, and there are building and painting projects at the local orphanages that we often fund and help out with.
- Marketing and Events: There is no end of work to do here, and you are more than welcome to write articles for the local papers, help out with our local fundraising events or take photographs and create films of the centre.
Skills required
We have such a wide variety of projects to work on that anyone who is enthusiastic and hard working will be able to apply themselves, make a difference and have a fantastic experience. Our volunteer manager will make sure that you are well looked after, and provide structured programmes for you to feed into which are adapted to your strengths and passions. We are also very open to new ideas and projects than might help us, so volunteers who like to use their initiative are extremely welcome!
Prices
Prices range from £850 (2 weeks) to £2695 (12 weeks). Price includes accommodation, all meals and unlimited tea, coffee and juice, airport transfers, work related transport, free t-shirt and local sim card, orientation and support and a donation to the centre. 30 day visas are free on arrival for most nationalities. Minimum age 18 years
