Wildlife conservation travel guide

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Wildlife conservation travel guide

The biggest misconception about wildlife conservation vacations is that they are an opportunity to travel to an outlying idyll then spend your days bottle-feeding lion cubs and cuddling chimps – this couldn’t actually be further from the truth. Wildlife conservation trips are for people who love the wild and are passionate about the environment, and a big part of that is accepting that to work alongside wild animals isn’t going to be about babying them.

Like us, animals feel love, joy, fear and pain, but they cannot grasp the spoken word. It is our obligation to speak on their behalf ensuring their wellbeing and lives are respected and protected.

Wildlife conservation is an umbrella term for everything to do with protecting the health of our natural environment and the incredible wildlife that lives among it, something often taken for granted and is hugely vulnerable to harm by human activity – but that’s not to say you can’t be in the company of some really interesting people and have a lot of fun while helping out with it.

Get to grips with what a working wildlife vacation entails and how you can choose the right one for you with our wildlife conservation travel guide.

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Is wildlife conservation for you?

Go on a wildlife conservation vacation if…

You are passionate about wildlife and want to help preserve it. You want to understand wildlife conservation’s wider goals and are comfortable that research is an important element of doing that. You have done a safari before and loved it, or like the idea of doing a safari, but want something more involved and are interested in the bigger picture. You are looking for a really alternative trip: wildlife conservation vacations are nothing like booking a villa for a week somewhere sunny, they’re an entirely different experience where you will be helping to do something incredible, but probably out of your comfort zone too. You have an active interest in finding out more about the local lifestyle. Thankfully, the relationship between the local community and conservationists is becoming stronger and one of the markers of a conservation project’s success now is how well it works within the local community. It isn’t compulsory to get involved with the local community, but most people want to. You find a wildlife conservation trip that matches your own interests and your own skill level too – find out if you need previous experience, or any prior training, so the trip matches your own expectations of what you want to learn and achieve.

Don’t go on a wildlife conservation vacation if…

You want to cuddle cute animals – wildlife conservation work is very much hands-off. You want to go somewhere to party: a wildlife conservation trip is the wrong trip for you – don’t confuse a relaxed environment with the fact that you’re actually helping out as part of an important environmental picture. You want air-conditioned, resort style accommodation and umbrellas in your cocktails – the locations may be 5*, but they’re not 5* resorts and conservation work is far more about local people and living how they live than creature comforts. You need a regular sleep pattern – particularly when working with monkeys, you may be required to wok through the night, so your sleep pattern will be more erratic. You’re a stickler for a set routine. Flexibility is a must for any type of conservation trip because you are working within nature, which essentially has no rules, so you need to be prepared for changes to your daily plan. You’re not able to manage your expectations: one day you might see lots of wildlife, the next you might see none - there is little rhyme and reason to the behaviour of animals.

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Toll free 1-866-821-6866

Calling us from outside the US?

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What does wildlife conservation entail?

A wildlife conservation trip is essentially a working vacation. You’ll join a team of trained researchers and professional wildlife monitors working on a long-term project to protect and help conserve our planet’s wildlife and wild places.

A lot of the work that goes into conservation requires large amounts of manpower, so volunteers are needed to muck in and can choose from a variety of trips: working in sanctuaries with animals that have been rescued from zoos or cruel tourist entertainment; working in rehabilitation centers with animals that have been injured but need assistance before being released back into the wild; working in research centers, which sounds very scientific, but often isn’t, and is very much focused on observing behaviours and noting down patterns and sightings; or working on game reserves doing tracking, monitoring, and land conservation work such as clearing trees or planting seeds, which is vitally important for the wildlife that dwells there.

The biggest misconception about wildlife conservation vacations is that people think they can go on vacation, stay somewhere exotic and cuddle lots of cute animals, but this really isn’t the case. Though some elephant care placements and others working with monkeys may require a small element of practical hands-on work, this should never be a priority for you when deciding on a wildlife conservation trip – generally it isn’t in the best interests of the animal concerned, something which you can read more about on our responsible tourism page.

Without question, what you absolutely need before booking a wildlife conservation trip is a passion for the animal world, enthusiasm and a willingness to learn – learning how to track, monitor, and care for animals accurately requires commitment, and you’ll also be learning about conservation on the job so a genuine interest is imperative.

Their idyllic locations often run the risk of people presuming wildlife conservation trips are a bit more of a vacation than they actually are; they can be very hard work and demand long days with quite physical, but very rewarding work involved and although your accommodation will be provided and some is more plush than others, you should approach wildlife conservation expecting a 5* experience, not a 5* resort.

More about Wildlife conservation

Choosing a wildlife conservation holiday

Choosing a wildlife conservation vacation

From the vibrant culture of Thailand to the tropical savannah of Belize, sometimes choosing a wildlife conservation vacation can be as exciting as the world you’ll find once in resort.

Where to go on a wildlife conservation holiday

Where to go on a wildlife conservation vacation

If you want to know where to go on a wildlife conservation vacation then read on to discover what Responsible Travel recommends and typical daily timetables to get a glimpse of a day in the life.

Wildlife conservation activities

Wildlife conservation activities usually include a bit of free time for local engagement initiatives and getting out and about. Read tips from our expert Erin Sparks on the low down.

Wildlife conservation in Europe

From preparing food for rescued brown bears in Romania to remote research expeditions searching out endangered lynx in the Montenegrin mountains and more!

Wildlife conservation types

Choose a wildlife conservation vacation that really matters using advice from our suppliers Johan Maree and Anne Smellie.

Elephant conservation

Here we reveal the best places to enjoy a responsible elephant conservation project, where you might be joining long-term researchers to monitor wild herds, or working in sanctuaries.

Turtle conservation

Turtle conservation projects from Costa Rica to the Seychelles offer opportunities for effective citizen science in idyllic beach settings, perfect for families.

Top 10 wildlife conservation vacations

From tracking leopards in South Africa to caring for rescued bears in Romania, the places a wildlife conservation vacation will take you are as varied as the work you will do.

Wildlife conservation advice

Learn about accommodation, training and advice on seeing the bigger picture before you set off armed with advice on how to do wildlife conservation safely.

Responsible wildlife conservation

There are no excuses for not being able to travel right on a conservation vacation with the responsible wildlife conservation tours that we advertise on this website.