Responsibilities:
Internship responsibilities are broad and demanding. Interns and volunteers perform as the
primary work force of the sanctuary. They are responsible for all aspects of the daily
operation of a nonprofit wildlife rehabilitation center and animal sanctuary.
After appropriate training, responsibilities include:
• General husbandry including cleaning, feeding & enrichment
• Building and repairing habitats and general grounds maintenance
• Reading/studying provided materials regarding wildlife rehabilitation and animal care
• Daily feeding/medical care of animals
• Cage and pen cleaning
• Documentation of medical conditions
• Answering phone, returning phone calls
• Rescuing/transporting wildlife to the Center or from the Center to the veterinarian
Interns are responsible for admitting wildlife, examining and caring for patients. This includes
determining species, researching animal behavior, characteristics, and natural habitat. Foraging
for wildlife foods, dietary design and preparation, cleaning, husbandry, administration of
medications, maintaining medical records, cage and property maintenance, and release of patients
into appropriate habitats.
Wildlife starts to trickle in during April, however, once May arrives, it is full steam ahead.
Animals will continue to arrive until late summer and will need to be cared for until their release
in August, September or October (depending on age, species, and health).
A typical daily schedule would look something like this and would involve a minimum of 3-4
interns and volunteers. One shift of interns/volunteers would start at 8 a.m. and finish at
approximately 5 p.m. and the second shift would start at approximately 1 p.m. and finish at
10 p.m. (Shifts are flexible)
8-10 a.m. Feed wildlife and clean wildlife cages
10am-12pm Feed/water wolf dogs, chickens/ducks, goats/deer and outside animals
12 - 1 p.m. Lunch break
1 - 3 p.m. Wildlife feedings (Between 1-5 p.m. Feed and water horses)
3 - 5 p.m. Clean exotics cages and feed kinkajous, etc. Prepare bear food
5 - 7 p.m. Wildlife feedings
7 - 8 p.m. Supper break
8 - 10 p.m. Wildlife feedings and cage cleaning
Miscellaneous jobs/chores will be done during “free” time and “overlap” times.
The schedule outlined above all sounds very easy and normal but the difficult part is that it never
really happens!!! There are constant interruptions to this routine that create the frenzied and
chaotic environment in the center that everyone grows to expect. No two days are ever identical
or give you time to think about anything twice, so you are never bored and you enjoy almost
every moment.
Dealing with the public is a constant job. From the center’s opening hours until usually well
after closing the phone is ringing off the hook. It is usually the intern’s job to answer these calls
and cover the whole gambit of wildlife problems from what to do with a baby bird to how to get
bats out of the attic. At the same time people are coming through the door bearing cardboard
boxes containing all manners of creatures inside for us to treat. Sometimes you wonder if there
is an end in sight.
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The work is labor intensive and the hours are long, usually sun-up to sun-down, and there can
be times when days off are scarce. We try to give a day off each week, but that is not always
possible. The work can be difficult and can be stressful, but the rewards are great!
