Project Life
Volunteer Work with Vervet Monkeys in South Africa

This project is a great opportunity for those with an interest in primates to get involved with world class conservation work, while at the same time enjoying all that Africa has to offer. You may be lucky enough to witness the excitement of a 'release'; to experience first-hand the antics that take place when we release the monkeys into their new home – a truly remarkable experience. Once released a large part of everyday life is focused on monitoring individuals and troops to see when they will be ready for rehabilitation.

Suitable volunteers will be trained in dealing with baby monkeys and to help with introducing them to troops. The project also runs an identification project in order that they can identify every one of the monkeys, and any volunteer who enjoys this sort of activity is most welcome to be trained on how to identify monkeys and how to update the database.

As well as the many sub projects which are constantly running, volunteers will also be expected to help out with the day-to-day running of the centre:

Duties commence at 7/8am and finish at 4/5pm, with 1-2 hours off in the middle of the day, depending on the season. Volunteers are able to take one day off from Monday to Friday, have a half day at the weekend (providing there is cover), and those volunteers who are here for a minimum of four weeks also have one touring day per week worked, which can be used to go to places such as the Kruger National Park. All staff members and volunteers are on call 24 hours a day.

Please note that duties do vary from time to time, depending on what we are doing while you are here and your specific skills and areas of interest. These may include:

• Washing feed bowls
• Washing and making baby bottles during baby season
• Giving babies their feed
• Assisting with the cleaning of cages
• Preparing Pronutro feed and giving feed to a select groups of monkeys
• Preparing the main daily feed
• Assisting with the feeding
• Monitoring monkeys
• Assisting with introduction of new monkeys
• Assisting and handling babies during baby season (November-February)
• Assisting and caring for sick and injured monkeys
• Doing daily inspections and follow ups on monkeys requiring daily attention
• Going on monkey patrol and helping to collect data for the census
• Providing intensive care to babies
• Collecting and sorting food
• Going out on calls to collect monkeys
• Participating in reintroductions
• Assisting with basic medical practices and administering medications
• Writing up reports
• Building new facilities and assisting with general maintenance
• Assisting the handlers in trapping and relocating monkeys
• Checking the integrity of cages
• Being on call 24 hours a day
• Assisting with fundraising
• Assisting with cooking
• Having one-to-ones with any monkeys who require special attention
• Helping with firebreaks / fire watch (June – August).