What We Do In A Day - Wildlife Volunteering in Australia
Have you ever wanted to volunteer with wildlife? Or even just hug a koala or pet a baby kangaroo? That’s what I spent almost 2 months doing in Port Douglas, Australia as a wildlife volunteer at Wildlife Habitat. In this post I will tell you all about what days as a wildlife volunteer could look like. From waking up the koalas in the morning to road tripping with a kangaroo in the afternoon to eating dinner with the other volunteers at night. I even made a video about it years ago. You can find the video at the end of this post, if you want a more visual picture of a day as a wildlife volunteer in Australia.
I was a volunteer back in 2019, and therefore some things might have changed since.
Morning
Morning ride to work
We would wake up early and get picked up around 7:00 AM at our accommodation. We lived in a hostel in rooms of 6 people (all volunteers in our rooms). The morning drive wasn’t long, but beautiful with the palm trees and the daily check to see if we could spot the saltwater crocodile that lived in the river we passed every morning.
Getting assigned
Once we got there, we would be assigned to the keeper we would work with for that day. We would get switched around to get to work with all the different keepers in all 3 areas of the park - Wetlands, Rainforest and Savannah. That way we learned about all of the animals in the park instead of just the ones from one habitat. Different routines and tasks would be done in all of the different areas. For instance, in Wetlands we would take the birds out of their cages in the morning and place them where they liked to sit during the day. Not that all of them would stay there, but they had a specific place for each one.
Breakfast
We would eat breakfast sometime during the morning to fuel up for the day. The best days would be when we got some of the brunch from ‘breakfast with the birds’, usually on the weekend shifts. On the other days there would be bread, cereal and fruit for breakfast.
Cleaning
Cleaning was a big part of the daily chores no matter what area you were in. That included the different bird cages, the walking paths for the guests, the sand in different areas and the enclosures, like the koala enclosures. I’m sure there was a lot more that needed cleaning, but those are some examples.
Breakfast with the birds
In Wetlands, one of the morning activities would be ‘Breakfast with the birds’. That is one of the experiences people can have when visiting the park. We would bring out the birds and walk around with them for guests to take pictures with. Sometimes I would have 3-4 birds on me at once to walk around with, which was so much fun.
Waking up the koalas
Another morning task I loved was when I had to clean the koala enclosures, which meant I had to go and wake them up first thing in the morning. The park wasn’t open yet, so everything was completely quiet and it was just me and the koalas. Those moments made the entire experience worth every penny.
Midday
Food preparation
When you have an entire wildlife park full of wildlife, there are a lot of different diets and a lot of hungry animals. Feeding the animals was of course a daily task. Every species have a specific diet, which was fun to learn about while preparing the food. A lot of the animals were vegetarian, eating greens, vegetables, grains and so on. The koalas are very picky eaters, eating only eucalyptus. But not all kinds of eucalyptus. No, it wasn’t supposed to be easy for us. They would only eat 8 or 9 of the hundreds of kinds of eucalyptus. Though I’m not sure if that is a thing for all koalas or just the spoiled koalas we had at the park. One time we had gone out and cut the eucalyptus for them, and when we got back, Kodi - one of our male koalas - would only eat it, if I personally held the branch in my hand instead of putting it in the branch holder.
Going to find eucalyptus
One of the tasks we would also do within the food category was going out in nature to find the types of eucalyptus the koalas liked, cut enough of it and bring it back. That would bring its own world of troubles with it, as you could end up cutting a branch with a nest of green ants in it or big spiders. Since the branches are not allowed to touch the ground before coming into the park, you would just have to catch them no matter what, and then put them in the back of the truck. That required a lot of trust in the keeper who was doing the choosing and cutting of the branch. Not every time was a success. One of the times I had gotten all the way back to the park and had carried the branches to their normal spot, and when I put them down a massive huntsman spider crawled out of them. I almost had a small heart attack. Not a fun moment.
Crocodile feeding show
We also did crocodile feeding shows that were very informative for the park guests on crocodile safety, facts and stories. The food for them were mostly big chunks of meat that we would tie up with string to attach to a bigger stick. Then we would get to help out at the “show”, when the keeper was talking and feeding the big male crocodile, Babinda. The guests loved it every time he jumped out of the water to catch the meat. We would also feed the baby crocodiles, but that was a behind the scenes moment. They weren’t in the park accessible to guests.
Lunch
Sometime during the day we would eat lunch. We would usually eat lunch a lot of us together, depending on the schedule of the day. That was our free time to share our experiences since breakfast - some days more wild than others - and relax.
Care center
Another thing that wasn’t a part of the open park for guest was the care center. That is a quarantine area where we would have all the sick or abandoned babies. Or if they for any other reason were not able to be in the park with the rest. Most of them were baby kangaroos (joeys) or baby wallabies. They needed to be fed by bottle and stay in a textile version of a mothers pouch. The cutest little creatures in the world. Any day taking care of them would be a good day.
Afternoon
Wildlife presentations
When you were in the Wetlands area with a specific keeper, you would get to be a part of the wildlife presentations. That would usually consist of guests sitting down for about half an hour to an hour listening to a keeper talk about certain animals we had at the park. Usually they would talk about the species the volunteers were holding. Normally we would be 2 or even 3 volunteers holding snakes and baby crocodiles. That would also mean that I would sometimes handle a big snake - very much alive and moving - for about an hour while the guests looked half terrified, half intrigued. They could touch it if they wanted to. And then the keeper would teach us a lot about them. I loved these presentations, because I got to cuddle with snakes for so long. Of course we only had to do it if we wanted to. But I thought it was fun - until one of the guests asked the keeper how we were sure that the very big snake (wrapped about 3 times around my body) wouldn’t kill me. And his answer was “we aren’t sure”. It suddenly didn’t seem so safe. But I still trusted the snake as much as you can probably trust them.
Feeding tours
Another task involving the guests were the feeding tours or just generel information tours. We would assist the keepers on the tours with the guests. This would also be very informative for us, as we would learn what the guests would. The only difference was that we got to do it over and over again, and also take part in the actual feeding of the animals.
Medical check ups
We would also assist in medical check ups for the animals, and give them medicine buried in food, so they wouldn’t notice it. I had to find the male kangaroo with a cast on his arm multiple times, to give him the medicine he needed, but didn’t want. I put it in some chopped up fruit and talked him into eating it anyways. We ended up becoming great friends him and I. He might not have agreed.
Making enrichments for the birds
One of my favorite activities was making enrichments for the birds. I ended up loving the birds. Each of them had their own little personality, which was such a special experience to witness. I went out and picked some special flowers they loved as a treat for them. We also made different kinds of challenges for them, like putting fruit in an empty toilet papir roll and closing it for them to figure out how to open. Getting to see them super excited, when we gave it to them, was completely worth everytime someone peed on me. They had so much fun playing with the stuff we made for them.
Special tasks
Road trip with a kangaroo
Some days were a little different. If we were lucky, we would get to do some special things that were not everyday tasks. I got to go on a road trip with a kangaroo after all of the volunteers and all of the keepers captured one of the male kangaroos that had broken his arm in a fight. A keeper and I had to take the very angry kangaroo to the vet in Cairns, which he was not a fan of. That’s when he got the cast on his arm. He was very big and very strong, and all of our male keepers all got scratches and were bleeding after we got him in the transport carrier. A few weeks later, he had to go back to get it off again, which was a whole new fight for us. A little tip: do NOT mess with kangaroos! But the road trip down the coast of Queensland is always beautiful, so that made up for the mess it was to get to that point.
Beach clean up
We also had a day doing a beach clean up with all the volunteers. That was another way of helping out nature and Australia, that I really enjoyed. The only thing about a beach clean up in Tropical North Queensland that is not the most convenient is the fact that you should always be minimum 5 meters away from all water areas. You might run into a saltwater crocodile anywhere near water, and you don’t want to encounter one on the beach you are cleaning up, even if the work you do is for their own good. Therefore we spent a lot of time making sure it was safe and keeping a very close eye on the water while picking up trash on the beach. Luckily, we didn’t meet any salties that day.
Evening
Shower time
After coming home from work, first thing we would do was take a quick shower. After working with animals all day, you will need one. One day I had a cute little creature sit on my shoulder and pee on me to mark his territory. That was not my best moment, but part of the job. You need to be okay with getting a bit dirty to be able to do the job. I wore makeup twice while working - on the first day and the last day. You quickly find out that putting makeup on for a job like that is a waste of time. Once you’ve been working for about an hour, maybe less, you would have ruined it anyway. It was actually one of the things I liked very much as a big city girl, who usually get up and get ready everyday with makeup, hair and a cute outfit. Not having to think about that and also being surrounded by people who didn’t think about it either, was very freeing in some way. Don’t get me wrong - I love a good getting dressed up day, but it was a much needed break from all of that working with wildlife.
Practical stuff and relax
Most nights we would go grocery shopping, do laundry, relax or play pool. Just chill in general after a day at work. We also had a pool at our accommodation, that we didn’t use a whole lot, but sometimes.
Dinner
Then we would end the evenings eating some of us together, making our own separate dinner and sitting together talking and playing UNO. Everyone who wanted to join were welcome, but it was also okay to just need a night of not socializing if needed.
We had a lot of different tasks and activities during the months I was there, and the longer we were there for, the more responsibility we were given. We probably even did things I forgot to put in this post 6 years later. Every day was different and exciting, rain or shine. You could choose between 4, 6 or 8 weeks when choosing the programme, and some people think 4 weeks is enough before actually going. I would definitely recommend 6 or 8 weeks. 4 weeks is simply not long enough to get to work and get comfortable in all of the different areas of the park. If you want the full experience and have the time and means to do it, I would definitely not recommend 4 weeks but more. But however long you choose, if you get to go, do it! You will not regret it and you will most likely love every second of it if you love wildlife. This was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made for myself, and worth every penny spent.
I worked at Wildlife Habitat, but there are plenty of other places to volunteer too throughout Australia and the rest of the world. Live out that dream, instead of wondering what it might have been like when you are 80 years old and never went. That goes for any dream really. This was one of mine and I will cherish those memories till the end of time.
If you are interested in the specific programme I did, you can find more information here or research which companies in your country send volunteers to Port Douglas. In Denmark (and the rest of Scandinavia I think) you can go with GoXplore.
Have you ever volunteered internationally? Or do you have an idea of a place you would like to volunteer if you had the chance? Let me know in the comments.
Want a more visual look into a typical day as a wildlife volunteer in Australia? Watch the video below.
This post is not sponsored. This is just my personal experience.
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