Sloth conservation
Project name:
The Sloth Institute
Project purpose:
The Sloth Institute, located in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica, focuses on the research, education and release of hand-raised and injured sloths back to the rainforest.
Project activities:
animal rehabilitation
data collection/analysis
Weekly cost (approx USD):
$
Direct benefits you gain:
field research skills
Noteworthy conservation points:
ethical rehabilitation centre/practices
Wild Sun Rescue Center
Accommodation:
tent
When does the project run?
All year
Facilities:
accommodation included, food included, cooking facilities, electricity, local shops, nearby medical facilities, refillable drinking water, shower (hot), toilet (western), wifi
How long can I stay?
3 months internship
Requirements:
All applicants must be physically fit, healthy, have field research experience, behavioral research experience (requires patience!)
Excellent communication skills
Strong interest in animal welfare and conservation
Must be non-smoker.
Coursework or experience in zoology, environmental education, wildlife ecology, or a related field is required.
Desirable to have the following experience:
Experience traveling to a tropical country and living in rainforest conditions are a plus.
Spanish language skills and experience working with VHF tracking technology are strongly considered.
Must complete required vaccinations and purchase current international health insurance prior to arrival in Costa Rica.
Details of the day-to-day life on the project:
Interns at this project (Sloth Technicians), perform night field work, tracking sloths with radio collars and doing behavioural observations.
The Sloth Technician absolutely must have the ability to work long days (9+ hours) with very little time off (1 day per week). In addition, because most of this work will occur at night, this person will need to be able to basically become nocturnal. This person must be extremely dedicated to sloth conservation and willing to forgo personal comfort for the benefit of the animals. You will be hot, sweaty, wet, cold, eaten by mosquitos, sleepy, sore, and tired but you'll still feel that there is no other place in the world that you would rather be than watching sloths in the jungle. This is rigorous fieldwork with limited hands on interactions with sloths
Duties:
• Conduct behavioral monitoring at night in the rainforest.
• Daily Data Entry
• Using VHF radio telemetry
• Preparing food/collecting wild food items for sloths
• Feeding, cleaning and enriching sloth cages
• Assist in opportunistic capture, sample collection and release of sloths
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