C.A.R.E. The Centre for Animal Rehabilitation and Education
Baboon & Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre Committed to Rescue, Rehabilitation, Release & Sanctuary Since 1989. Hands on Volunteer Opportunities in Africa with Primates
Join our Primate Care Team
C.A.R.E. greatly needs volunteers to help with the husbandry aspects of rehabilitation and care for baby baboon orphans in their first phase of rehabilitation, assist with their bonding to baboon surrogate mothers and to assist with the rehabilitation of adult baboons which have been rescued from all sorts of circumstances. We are also seeking research students and anyone with handy-man skills that can help with development of the centre.
Teachers and educators are also welcome since we have just finished building our education centre and are needing assistance to develop our outreach programs.
To be part of the animals healing; bonding with the baboons in a way that is incomprehensible to most, watching them grow in confidence, and to witness them becoming wild, sociable animals again, is an experience with unparalleled rewards; that any helper will never forget.
Download 2020
Volunteer Guide
 Orphan Niro With Volunteer CareGiverC.A.R.E. sadly receives many orphan baby baboons which you will be helping to provide intimate and specialist care to. Your help is needed to work hands-on and assist with the hand rearing of the orphan babies, to provide them with all their physical and psychological needs. The hand rearing involves supervising the nursery enclosure, assisting with their bonding to an adult female, preparing and giving out food and milk bottles and ensuring the babies get a stable and loving upbringing. |  Supervising Orphans at the RiverOne of the jobs at the end of the day for volunteer-caregivers is to supervise orphans as they explore the banks of the Olifant's River which runs alongside C.A.R.E. |  Facilitatate Bonding Of OrphansWe bond our orphan babies to adult female baboons and need volunteer-care-givers to assist with this process. |
|---|---|---|
 Observing Smooth IntegrationsWe bond our orphan babies to adult female baboons once they reach 2.5 months old and need volunteer-care-givers to assist with this process. It is wonderful to observe the orphan becoming adopted into a new baboon family. |  Monitoring and Research |  Enclosure Cleaning |
 Team CARE |  Collecting Natural Foods |  Making Bottles for Orphans |
 Cleaning Enlcosures |  Onsite Veterinary CLinic |  Rearing Infant OrphansC.A.R.E. receives many orphan baby baboons which you will be helping to provide intimate and specialist care to. Your help is needed to work hands-on and assist with the hand rearing of the orphan babies, to provide them with all their physical and psychological needs. The hand rearing involves supervising the nursery enclosure and juvenile troops, preparing and giving out food and milk bottles and ensuring the babies get a stable and loving upbringing. |
 Scruffy + Scruffalina Free!Scruffy and Scruffalina are enjoying freedom with KC troop! They LOVE the waterberry tree, Syzygium cordatum (one of many in their new home range). From orphan to freedom... this is why we do it! |  Baboon Release 2015C.A.R.E. has pioneered in successful reintroductions and releases of rehabilitated baboons back into the wild. Here are KC troop orphans finally free. |  Releasing BaboonsVolunteers may be asked to assist with the release process of the baboons. This could involve habitat assessments for the pre-release aspect, censusing the previously released troops and/or acting as human deterrents during the release phase. |
 Behavioural ObservationsEvery baboon at the centre is monitored daily by the C.A.R.E. staff and you may often assist the staff to observe integrations, troop dynamics, troop health and any other area of interest. If you are interested in behavioural studies we can include this in the schedule, teaching you how to apply various behaviour collection techniques. This unique opportunity to observe baboons in various stages of rehabilitation allows for countless behavioural research that you may be interested in. |  Enclosure Maintenance and DesignVolunteers are given knowledge of enclosure design for captive keeping of primates; good and bad examples and assist with the improving, renovating, cleaning and maintenance of enclosures. Volunteers enjoy making new tyre swings, platforms, hammocks and other climbing structures for the baboons young and old to make a lasting difference to their lives! |  Veterinary ExperienceYou will be given the opportunity to spend time with the veterinary team where you can learn about health and hygiene, assist with the daily veterinary tasks, and be trained to take faecal samples, analyse samples and identify parasites. You will be taught how to use the microscope and observe any surgeries which may occur during that time. This is very valuable experience to anyone looking to work with animals in a veterinary surgery, rescue centre or zoo. |
HOW YOU CAN HELP; Volunteer Activities:
We need you! Whilst the main bulk of the volunteering involves cleaning enclosures of adult baboons awaiting release and caring for the orphan baby baboons, there are also other essential aspects and additional experiences to ensure C.A.R.E. is achieving its broader goals of helping the communities and environment on a greater scale too. Here are some of the activities you may be involved in, depending on how many volunteers there are available at the centre and which staff are available. The volunteers are always assigned to the raising of the orphans, and if we have enough hands we enjoy getting our other projects off the ground too.
-
Cleaning enclosures
-
Helping to supervise Orphan Baby Baboon and caring for them in their first phase of rehabilitation (if orphans are present during your stay)
-
Enrichment Programme
-
Husbandry of adult baboons undergoing rehabilitation
-
Veterinary Experience
-
Behavioural Observations
-
Data collection
-
Enclosure Maintenance & Design
-
Collecting natural vegetation for feeding
-
Collecting natural items for enrichment and feeding
-
Husbandry for the smaller animals including adorable rescued guinea pigs, dogs, cats
-
Cleaning and organising all areas of the centre
-
Tracking
-
Alien and Invasive Plant Removal
-
Community Outreach and Education
-
Opportunities to go on excursions; e.g. the Kruger National Park next door, the Panorama Route (Blyde Canyon, waterfalls etc.), horse riding safaris, nearby attractions and other rehabilitation centres.
Help C.A.R.E. Make a Real Difference & Apply Today....
C.A.R.E. needs many helping hands, volunteers are an essential, valuable aspect of the work force. Volunteering at C.A.R.E. is a truly rewarding experience, and most volunteers return at least once to see the animals that they helped to hand-rear and/or integrate grow up. The baboons never forget you, and most volunteers never forget the baboons!
To apply read the pre-requisits and visa requirements and apply. For all shorter-term volunteering (<4 months) you can fill out the form below or email info@primatecare.org.za. For all longer-term positions and veterinary positions download the right APPLICATION FORM.
To apply today or request more information fill out the appropriate form below. Be sure to include your age, background, qualifications, skills and interests. We will get back to you as soon as we can.
We ask all volunteers to make a non-refundable donation contribution to the centre. C.A.R.E. receives no government assistance and doesn’t have any sponsors which help with the day to day costs of caring for the animals. The volunteer program is what funds the centre, the donation you pay not only covers the costs of housing and feeding you at the centre, but it also pays for the care of the animals you are going to be working with. The volunteer program has been in operation since the 90’s and has funded the growth of the centre since then.
Many volunteers embark on fundraising initiatives to fundraise for their donation contribution and even their flights.
The Great Primate Handshake visits C.A.R.E.
Hear all about our founding ethics from th voice of Rita Miljo.