C.A.R.E Animal Rehabilitation
Founded in 1989 by the late Rita Miljo as a refuge for a handful of baboons whom had been subjected to abuse by humans, C.A.R.E. has since grown into the largest rehabilitation centre for chacma baboons worldwide.
Based on the edge of the Kruger National Park in South Africa, C.A.R.E. is the perfect setting for wildlife rehabilitation and volunteers come from all over the world to help care for the baboons. We currently house around 450 baboons and are one of the only sanctuaries that have experience for giving refuge to orphaned and injured baboons in South Africa. We have an extremely high success rate of releasing hand-reared, fully formed troops back into the wild.
Volunteering Opportunity
C.A.R.E. greatly needs volunteers to help hand-raise baby baboon orphans and assist with their bonding to baboon surrogate mothers, to assist with the rehabilitation of baboons which spent up to 13 years of their life in a lab-cage and to help animals which have been rescued from all sorts of circumstances. 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 volunteer will never forget.
Volunteering Activities
Whilst the main bulk of the volunteering involves caring for the orphan baby baboons, some ex-laboratory sanctuary baboons and the husbandry of the adult 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.
· Hand Rearing Orphan Baby Baboons
· Being a Primate Keeper for Adult Baboons
· 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
· Cleaning enclosures
· Husbandry for the smaller animals including adorable rescued guinea pigs
· Walking the rescued dogs
· Cleaning and organising all areas of the centre
· Tracking
· Alien and Invasive Plant Removal
· Community Outreach for 2017
· Opportunities to go on excursions; e.g. the Kruger National Park next door.
Become a Baboon Guardian
The Guardianship programme at C.A.R.E helps us to care for and plan a future for the baboons under rehabilitation at the centre. If you would like to become a Baboon Guardian and support a baboon at C.A.R.E, we will send you a Guardianship Pack and updates on their progress. We rely on generosity and donations to enable us to care for the baboons undergoing rehabilitation and we hope that through keeping you updated on your special baboon you may get to know a little of its personality and character as it develops! Choose one of our very special baboons who deserve only the best care and with your help we can provide just that! If you choose to become a Baboon Guardian, we will send you electronically;
– A Guardianship Certificate,
– A photo,
– Profile of you baboon,
– Updates,
– About C.A.R.E Information Pack.
Followed by email or Facebook updates 3 times a year for your adoptive baboon so that you can get to know them and how they are getting on at the Centre.
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