Wildlife Husbandry Internship in Costa Rica

My time at Alturas Wildlife sanctuary taught me a lot of clinical skills and allowed me to work hands-on with species I had never seen before. The day-to-day task can be somewhat repetitive with lots of feeding and cleaning but there are opportunities to learn.

Hi! My name is Isabella, I'm 19, and from Florida! I am a rising junior majoring in Business Administration with a specialization in Zoology. I am also pursuing a minor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation. I did a 4-week Wildlife Husbandry Internship with Alturas Wildlife Sanctuary through Roots Intern. Unfortunately, I wish I had just gone through the internship's website and done the process there because Roots Intern did not add much value to my experience. The support was minimal, and the resources I received were not worth the extra money that I paid. The people who do internships for 1 month pay the same rate as those who do 3 months although it is much more time to receive support. I voiced this concern without much of an answer. Going through Roots was a complete waste of my money. I paid so much for something that was worth 10x less. I do not know how it is with other organizations, but in regards to this internship I do not recommend going through Roots Intern. The internship itself was amazing. Not only did it fulfill some of my career objectives, but it made one of personal dreams come true. For as long as I can remember, I have loved the idea of working hands on with animals and directly helping them. I have been passionate about sustainability and conservation and knew this was a field I wanted to go into. Alturas showed me what a potential career in this field could be like. During my time there, I learned how to prepare specialized diets for the animals, create enrichments for them, and better understand their natural, non-stressed behaviors. I was also able to work on a research project with one of the animals in the sanctuary, studying an olfactory enrichment for Frida, the Panamanian Owl Monkey. My favorite part, though, was definitely working in the nursery, where I learned how to care for and feed the baby animals. There were some aspects of the internship that I didn't quite enjoy as much. A significant portion of my tasks involved cleaning and maintaining the animal's enclosures. This and the other tasks felt a bit repetitive after 2 weeks and I think 4 weeks was more than enough time for me personally, to see if this is what I would want as a career in the future. I was also not really given a lot of guidance or help in regards to my research project, which was really difficult for me as I do not have experience with this stuff since I am a Business major. I wish I had received more structured support, as I believe that would have allowed me to produce more meaningful results. Beyond the animals and this though, what made my experience even more special was the people. The staff and other interns/volunteers were great to work with, kind, and supportive. It was just awesome working alongside people with the same, strong passion to help animals. If we got done with work early, the staff would take us to the beach or waterfall and sometimes did cool activities with us as well. I am so thankful for the experiences I had and the friendships I made. I can confidently say that I would do it all over again. It was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in a career in animal care, someone who loves animals, or simply anyone who wants to help out and make a difference.

I had an amazing time over the past three months in Dominical, Costa Rica. It was a different way of living than in the United States— but it was such a good change. It opened my eyes to a new part of the world, allowed me to see parts of Costa Rica I wouldn't have been able to on my own, and experience a new way of life. I met so many people from all over the world and so many lifelong friends were made. I eventually got over my fear of bugs and really enjoyed living the Costa Rica life! I learned so much about animal care, was able to develop my own project on the spider monkeys, and help contribute to Alturas. The sanctuary here cares so much about the animals and everything we do is for them. Everyone here is part of a collaborative effort to save animals hurt in Costa Rica and you can tell how much work is put into the sanctuary. The staff, the interns, and all of the volunteers make it what it is. I loved this experience and would totally do it again if I had the chance.