Wildlife Rehabilitation Intern

Description:

The Wildlife Rehabilitation Internship at HWC is meant to provide an introduction to native Hawaiian wildlife rehabilitation and prepare interns for a career in animal care, wildlife, conservation and veterinary medicine. The Wildlife Rehabilitation Intern is an integral part of the animal care team. The intern will work directly with the Wildlife Rehabilitation Manager and Wildlife Rehabilitation Technician in the daily care of patients at the Hawaii Wildlife Center. By the completion of the internship interns will be familiar with common native Hawaiian wildlife, husbandry, animal care, rehabilitation goals and techniques. 

Interns will be given more responsibilities as they develop their skills, including meal preparation, feeding of wildlife, assistance with physical therapy and rehabilitation of patients, examinations, medical record entry, cleaning and maintenance of enclosures and aviaries, general hospital cleaning duties, administration of medications with supervision, monitoring of anesthesia, running of blood work and other laboratory tests, assistance with release of patients among other related duties.

The intern will be asked to work on a final project on a topic approved by the Wildlife Rehabilitation Manager.

Hands on training will be provided and the intern will be given more responsibilities and trust as they learn and feel comfortable with certain tasks. Supervision will always be available and the interns will not be asked to do something out of their comfort zone.

In addition to hands-on learning, didactic teaching will be incorporated to provide the intern a foundation in the sciences, medicine, rehabilitation and the rules, regulations and ethics of the practice of wildlife rehabilitation.

Schedule and Terms Offered:

• Duration of 8 weeks (flexible)

• 3-4 days/week

• Minimum of 200 hours for completion of internship

• Offered year round:

  • -Winter/Spring Term: January-May

  • -Summer Term: June-August

  • -Seabird Fallout Term: September-December

Qualifications:

Animal experience and a science background is preferred but not required. 

Must be 18 years of age or older. 

Willing to work outdoors in all kinds of weather

Lift up to 50lbs

Ability to communicate and interact professionally in a team

Ability to follow directions

Ability to do basic math and convert units of measure. 

An interest in learning about wild animals and the care that goes into them

Attention to detail

Honesty

A strong work ethic

Compassion and respect for animals

Comfort in cleaning animal enclosures 

Understanding of the realities of wildlife medicine

Compensation:

This is an unpaid internship and the intern is responsible for their own expenses including housing and transportation. 

Application Process:

Please email your Resume/CV and Letter of Intent to birdhelp@hawaiiwildlifecenter.org. Please let us know what term/dates you are interested in applying for. 

We accept 2-3 interns per term.

Applications are accepted year round. Applications for the summer term are competitive and will be reviewed starting January 1st and we would like to have them in by January 31st to give all applicants a fair chance. You may still apply later than this, but spots may or may not be available, feel free to ask us as cancellations do occur.