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Biology Internships

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Internships (12 weeks)

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Wildlife Biology Internship

Wild Sun Rescue Center offers a 12-week internship to students and those looking to gain relevant experience in wildlife research, rescue and rehabilitation.

Everything we do here at Wild Sun is for the benefit of the animals in our care and throughout Costa Rica. The internship program is designed with that in mind, benefiting wildlife through research, data collection, and analysis, after their basic needs are met.

You will be assisted by our Internship Manager for the duration of your project, helping you to advance your research skills. You will receive weekly progress meetings, educational presentations, training in particular areas of interest and the chance to learn from other members of staff. At the end of your stay, you will receive a certificate of completion and a feature on our social media platforms.

Wildlife Biology Interns conduct research to improve the rehabilitation and reintroduction of wildlife. We offer a variety of project topics that can be tailored to your interests, depending on the needs of the center and the animals in care at that time. You will have the opportunity to carry out a project from idea proposal to a final outcome, whether this be a scientific report or a practical alternative.

Examples of possible projects include:

  • Behavioral scans of animals in pre-release to better understand release criteria

  • Census and behavioral data collection of local howler monkey troops

  • Life history research on local wildlife

  • Contacting other rescue centers to compare and update strategies

We also offer internships focused on sustainability, conservation and education. 

Internships at Wild Sun Rescue Center include training on the fundamentals of animal care and feeding, which can include animal diet preparation, feeding pre-release animals, nursery animal care, enclosure maintenance and cleaning, enrichment making, ICU record keeping, and possible managerial responsibilities, such as shift leading.

To apply for the Wildlife Biology Internship, fill out our online application and send an email with your resume to internships@wildsunrescue.org with the subject line ‘Wildlife Biology Internship’.

Interns must be at least 20 years of age, and preference is given to those with some relevant previous experience. 

Macaw reintroduction internship

Macaw reintroduction interns will focus on our macaw breeding and release program along with a research project related to the same. Duties may include but are not limited to:

  • Feeding

  • Cleaning

  • Maintenance

  • Banding

  • Bird Handling

  • Census and behavioral data collection of released macaws

  • Data input and preliminary analysis of breeding data through Wild Sun Database

Testimonial from Taylor, 2019 “My time with Wild Sun Rescue’s wildlife biology internship was life changing and incredibly fulfilling. Being able to work with these animals is a profound and rewarding experience. There’s nothing like helping a baby howler monkey in need of care. The internship itself was a great learning opportunity and there was ample guidance in the development and execution of research projects. I met, lived with, and worked with some of the most amazing people during my time at Wild Sun. I would highly suggest it to anyone thinking about interning there.”

Internships

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