VOLUNTEER WITH US
Lybomi Wildlife’s volunteer programme is a great way to get hands-on experience with primates. As a volunteer you will be involved in many aspects of rehabilitation, from daily cleaning to feeding to looking after the babies. Further more you will gain knowledge and understanding of primate conservation.
You will also have hands-on interaction with the baby animals admitted to the rehabilitation program. In addition to this you will have the opportunity to explore some of the wonderful tourist destinations that South Africa has to offer, and most certainly make new friends on this once in a lifetime adventure.
FOOD PREP
Preparing food and feeding the animals is a big part of a volunteer’s daily work. There are two major feedings per day: one in the morning and one in the afternoon, where we make sure that all animals are fed and clean fresh water isprovided. You will also assist with sorting the food, off-loading new food deliveries.
BOTTLE PREPARATION AND FEEDING
Our primate infants require scheduled bottle feeding. This is the responsibility of the volunteers. Babies are fed, and the volume consumed during every feed is recorded at each shift. We keep detailed records of what our infants are eating and drinking so we can monitor their health closely while they are growing and developing.
ENCLOSURE CLEANING
It is of the utmost importance that all our enclosures are scrubbed and disinfected to perfection daily. Any leftover waste can lead to illness for the animals, so we rely on our volunteers and their “elbow grease” to keep the animals healthy. The animals are taken out of the cage during cleaning, then the enclosure is scrubbed with soap and disinfectant from top to bottom, fencing to floor, branches and walls.
DAILY BABOON WALK TO THE RIVER
The highlight of everyday, not just for the volunteers but also for the baby & juvenile baboons, is a walk to the river on our property. This is done in order to ensure that the Primates admitted to the rehabilitation program get to experience their natural environment every day. Here, the young ones will climb trees and forage (and swim!). It is also important for the young Primates to learn social affiliate behaviour for example learning to move together as a troop, this is of crucial importance as they will need all these skills when they are released back into the wild, and it is awesome that we get to help them on their journey to become wild animals again.