Animal conservation is a particularly popular option for people who are looking to do some volunteering on their gap year or career break. One of the great things about getting involved with an animal conservation project is that it enables you to get close to some amazing animals - many of whom, sadly, are gravely endangered. Most animal conservation projects require volunteers to work `hands on' with the animals so, if you're passionate about wildlife, animal conservation work offers some real `once-in-a-lifetime' experiences.
Animal conservation is also a tremendously rewarding volunteer experience. Animal conservation organisations heavily rely on enthusiastic volunteers to help them carry out their vital work - so by helping out on an animal conservation project you'll be making a real difference on your gap year or career breaks. By giving up just some of your time to an animal conservation project you're doing your small bit to try and ensure that some of the animals you encounter remain in existence for future generations of visitors.
If you'd like to do some animal conservation volunteering on your gap year or career break GYFGU's has an extremely diverse range of programmes to choose from all round the world. Because we have so many animal conservation volunteer programmes it's well worth putting aside an hour or two in order to read up on what each one has to offer on the Gap Year For Grown Ups website. Alternatively, if you'd rather discuss the various options for animal conservation with someone in person, you can always speak to one our expert travel advisers.
It's impossible to summarise all of our animal conservation programmes on just one web page. However, in order to provide a brief idea of the type of exciting animal conservation projects you could get involved with on your gap year or career break, here are just a few typical examples…
Animal Conservation in Africa
Not surprisingly Africa is a hugely popular destination for anyone wanting to work on an animal conservation project - and there's a diverse of programmes to choose from. For example one of GYFGU's newest and most rewarding animal conservation programmes is our WWF-endorsed black rhino conservation project in Zimbabwe. It's estimated that as few as 3,500 black rhinos remain in the world today, making this perhaps our most vital animal conservation programme. Other animal conservation opportunities in Africa include working with lions in Kenya's Masaai Mara Game Reserve, desert elephant conservation in Namibia and monkeys in South Africa.
Animal conservation in Asia
GYFGU's also has a number of exciting animal conservation opportunities in Asia. For example one of GYFGU's most popular animal conservation programmes is on the remote island of Borneo - where volunteers can work on a project to protect orang-utan apes (the only great ape to be found outside of Asia).
Animal conservation in Latin America
There's an incredibly diverse range of animal conservation programmes available in Latin America. River turtles in the Peruvian Amazon, giant tortoises in the Galapagos Islands and caimans in Guatemala are just some of the animal conservation projects available in this beautiful region.
Janet Horsley had an incredible time on her tailor-made gap year, blazing a trail through Africa, Asia, Australia and Latin America, read her story here.
Gap Year for Grown Ups provide career breaks, volunteer work abroad and adventure travel options for grown up gappers.
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