Kona Animal Sanctuary: Assist with wildlife rehab and exotic animal care. Keepers can come as often as five times a week or as little as twice a week in the morning or afternoon rounds. Morning feeding rounds begin at 8:00 am and end around 11 am. Afternoon rounds begin at 3:30 pm and last until around 5:30. Rain or shine 365 days a week!
Three Ring Ranch loves our volunteers! Have you ever wanted to work with exotic animals? Care for native & endangered species in a sanctuary setting? This may be just the place for you. Like all kinds of critters?- bison, zebra, flamingos, ostrich, chinchillas, owls, monkeys and the list goes on. This is one of the most rewarding volunteer positions ever. You get to know the critters and they you. You work with a dedicated team of Keepers who treat you like family.
We are a very tiny facility (five acres) and all our staff are volunteer. I (Executive Director) am here full time and have a group of dedicated volunteers come daily (some several times a week) as keepers. Keepers are people who are trained to feed and care for the animals. There are 0 paid positions and we do not have housing.
Volunteers come up for several months to learn each of the critters before they are able to feed alone and become a Keeper as there are so many different species and it takes quite a while to become skilled at safely caring for them all. Some volunteers chose not to become Keepers but to come up less often and come for project days on an animals enclosure or to help with the day to day handyman type of jobs that always need doing. Our rounds begin at 8:00 am sharp and last 3+ hours. The afternoon rounds begin at 4 pm and last about 1.5 hours. You must be physically fit to be a keeper, yup this is not for anyone with major limitations.
The animal feed comes in 50lb bags which you do need to be able to move alone. Most of the time there is someone around who is able to lift and haul but you may get asked to do it with another keeper. Yes you get dirty! You are never asked to do something you are uncomfortable with and never asked to do anything unsafe. We expect our volunteers to be careful and safe for other humans and the critters.
This is a learning experience and you have to focus and pay attention. At first there is a huge amount of information to process but over time it all comes around. We know it feels like your brain will explode and we don't want that to happen so we take it slow. Everyone learns at their own pace, you do need a minimum of 3 days a week to train. Three-four x a week is better while training. We have to know you will be staying in Kona for 90 days or more to devote the time to training you. If you will be in town for a shorter period we welcome you as an "irregular". Please see other opportunities posted for areas we can use short time help.
You need to live in or near Kona to be a volunteer, it just does not work to drive over from Hilo or Kau. Some volunteers come for only a few months or move here to gain the experience while working elsewhere so they can get into school. Volunteers are at least 17 years old for liability reasons. We do not have residential lodging for volunteers other than those in our international, pre-vet or vet summer programs. See the education pages of our web site for more details on those programs. https://threeringranch.org
Many volunteers are working at regular jobs and come volunteer during spare time just to enjoy the animals or to get this type of work experience on a resume for a later date. For some it is just a chance to spend a few hours on a regular basis with animals in a place where their health and wellbeing come first. Couples are great volunteer teams! We do love our regular staff who are retired and have that extra time on their hands.
You can learn more about us at http://www.threeringranch.org
If you live in Kona, have a few days a week to volunteer & want to try or you think that this new residential position sounds like a great opportunity then give me a call at 331-8778 after 6 pm and we can set up a time for a visit. You may also reply to this email.
All volunteers have signed the volunteer waiver and have proof of insurance prior to orientation. All volunteers are covered at the Sanctuary by a VIS Volunteer Insurance Service policy through the CIMA Company. This policy provides extra accident, liability and auto insurance to our volunteers.
