Wildlife Husbandry Internship in Costa Rica

I spent 16 weeks in Malawi, doing both a two-week Sanctuary and 14 week Research Placement with LWT. I had an incredible experience, from the friendly people to the fascinating wildlife, natural beauty, and food, everything was amazing. It was not only a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but as a student currently studying Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and wanting to pursue a career in wildlife conservation, this placement provided me with an experience that prepared me for a future in this field and equipped me with skills like radio telemetry and data entry. However, I do wish I could've been more involved with some of the data entry, organization, and manipulation (e.g. GIS), but otherwise I highly recommend this program.

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.