Title: Wildlife Internship Assistant
Reporting to: Wildlife Internship Manager
Name of organization: Rescate Wildlife Rescue Centre, La Garita, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Background of organization: Rescate Wildlife Rescue Center www.rescatewildlife.org is a registered non-profit wildlife rehabilitation facility founded in 1989 and located on 36 acres of natural tropical forest in the province of Alajuela, Costa Rica. Our mission is to protect and restore the country’s biodiversity through wildlife rehabilitation, endangered species breeding, habitat preservation and the provision of lifetime care for non-releasable animals.
There are three main centers at Rescate’s facility in Alajuela:
A state-of-the-art Wildlife Rehabilitation Center
An Endangered Wildlife Breeding Center
A Lifetime Care Sanctuary with more than 800 animals and 125 species of animals.
Over 3,000 wild animals are admitted to Rescate’s rehabilitation center on an annual basis including sloths, jaguars, monkeys, tapirs, pumas and coyotes as well as a wide variety of birds, small mammals and reptiles. The vast majority of them are returned to the wild. Animals that cannot be released are provided life-time care in the sanctuary. Currently there are roughly 800 rescued birds, mammals, and reptiles under life-time care that cannot be released due to health or behavioral reasons. Non-releasable endangered species are maintained in the Endangered Species Reproduction Center, where they have an opportunity to contribute to the survival of their species through successful breeding and release of off-spring.
The Role:
The Wildlife Internship Assistant assists the program managers with the day to day management of the wildlife internship program.
Responsibilities will include but are not limited to:
Assist with recruitment of program interns
Assist with scheduling and planning daily activities
Assist with managing the food, supplies and logistics of the intern accommodation
Organize evening events, i.e. movie night, game night, etc.
Assist with organizing transport for interns
Assist with the supervision and training of program interns including but not limited to the following activities:
Design and implement animal enrichment in the Lifetime Care Sanctuary, Endangered Species Breeding Center and Rehabilitation Center.
Assist with feeding, cleaning and maintenance for animals in the sanctuary and breeding center.
Clicker training animals in the sanctuary to allow for veterinary checks.
Collect data for behavioral research in the Endangered Species Breeding Center.
Learn to recognize and collect wild foods for animals in the Rehabilitation Center.
Participate in weekly lecture series on wildlife care, rehabilitation and conservation.
Qualifications:
Essential:
Outgoing with the ability to work in a team is essential
A strong interest in wildlife conservation
Good communication skills.
Fluent in English and Spanish (spoken and written), additional language skills are a bonus
Some experience with animal care or animal behavior
The ability to be flexible and adapt to changing plans, driven by weather or other factors
Ability to work in hot, humid or rainy weather
Ability to keep a positive perspective
Desirable:
Experience with data collection and input
Experience with Microsoft Suite, Google G-Suite helpful
Experience working in a developing country desirable
Benefits:
The opportunity to work for the premier wildlife rescue and rehabilitation center in Costa Rica
Shared accommodation in group housing
Three meals per day
Training in animal management, behavioral observation, data collection, etc.
Pick-up and drop-off to San Jose International Airport
Assistance with the tourist visa process
Support in all aspects of the role
Travel to and from Costa Rica and any costs associated with obtaining a tourist visa will not be covered by Rescate Wildlife Rescue Centre.
If you are interested please send your CV and cover letter to Nuria Ferrero, Wildlife internship program manager at wildlifeintern@rescatewildlife.org. This position will be open until the right candidate is found.