Wildlife Images Internships
(We are not currently offering winter internships, but applications are open for spring, summer, and fall sessions.)
Ambassador Care Internship
Job Description
Overall Summary:
● Animal Husbandry: Learning and then providing daily care for the animal ambassador collection, including feeding animals species-specific diets, cleaning and maintaining enclosures, monitoring behavior and health, providing environmental and behavioral
enrichment, closely following safety protocols, and maintaining animal records.
● Cleaning: Scrubbing and deep cleaning kennels and enclosures, washing dishes, cleaning and folding laundry, sweeping, mopping, raking, power washing, and more.
● Food Production and Diet preparation: Cutting and weighing meats, produce, kibble, and specialty items including whole bodied prey, such as rodents, quail, rabbit and wild game. Performing husbandry tasks for feeder animals such as rodents, pigeons, and feeder insects, such as dubia roaches and mealworms.
● Public speaking: Interns will most likely be interacting with park guests daily.
Furthermore, interns will be asked to participate in public outreach and education, such as giving field trip tours, private animal encounters and keeper talks.
Ambassador Husbandry and Care:
● Shadowing and assisting keepers, as they feed, clean, train, and enrich our medium and large carnivores and dangerous animal collection, such as our Brown Bears, Gray Wolf hybrids, North American River Otters, and Bobcats. Interns will learn how to work
around Class 1 dangerous animals and how to work and train by means of protected contact.
● Learning and performing basic husbandry such as feeding and enriching small and medium mammals including Striped Skunks, Virginia Opossums, North American Badger, Bennett’s and Tamar Wallabies, and Patagonian Cavies. Depending on intern understanding, performance, and completion of a task checklist, these tasks are to be
done without supervision.
● Shadowing and assisting keepers as they feed, clean, train, and enrich our vast bird collection, which includes raptors such as eagles, hawks, owls, and vultures, as well as a Sandhill Crane, Black Swans, and European Starlings. While shadowing, interns will be able to learn and eventually perform basic husbandry duties.
Then depending on intern understanding, performance and completion of a task checklist, these tasks are to be done without supervision.
● Learning and performing basic husbandry of our reptile collection, which includes snakes, lizards, geckos, turtles, tortoises, and invertebrates including tarantulas and cockroaches. Upon completion of the specific task checklist, interns will be expected to perform daily reptile husbandry without supervision.
● There will be opportunities to assist keepers with animal training and learn the basics of operant conditioning.
● Assisting staff in the sorting of donated meats and produce and organizing items into fridges, trash, or to be composted.
● Performing care for breeding colonies of feeder rodents and pigeons. This includes cleaning enclosures, providing food, water, and enrichment. Also providing care and husbandry of feeder insects, such as Dubia Roaches and Mealworms.
● Optional opportunities to learn how to euthanize feeder rodents and butcher large game such as deer.
● Interns potentially will be asked to participate in public outreach and education, such as giving field trip tours, private animal encounters and keeper talks.
Intern Classes:
This internship offers educational courses, both remote and in-person, that will benefit the interns through this internship and in future endeavors.
The courses are taught by the animal care staff and the topics are as follows:
– Husbandry and Enrichment
– Training and Behavior
– Education and Public Speaking
– Nutrition and Toxic Foods
Requirements for Ambassador Care Internships:
● Must be at least 18 years of age to apply.
● Must have a valid driver’s license.
● Currently enrolled/recently graduated from higher education in a related field.
● Able to do rigorous work in all weather conditions and perform tedious tasks for long periods of time.
● Must be able to work independently and cohesively with co-workers.
● Work safely, quickly, efficiently and calmly under stressful conditions and handle multiple responsibilities while following directions and protocols.
● Represent Wildlife Images professionally at all times including speaking in public.
● Able to lift and carry 50 lbs
To apply, please email your resume, cover letter, and three professional references to internships@wildlifeimages.org
Exact start and end dates for internships vary from year to year. Please contact us for any questions or if you would like more information before applying.
Wildlife Rehabilitation (Clinic) Internship
Job Description
Cleaning: Cleaning is a very large part of wildlife rehabilitation and daily duties.
Cleaning duties include, scrubbing kennels and enclosures, washing dishes, cleaning and folding laundry,sweeping, mopping, raking, power-washing, and more.
Diet Preparation: Duties include cutting and weighing meats, produce, kibble, and specialty items including whole bodied prey such as rats, mice, and quail.
Public Speaking: Interns will assist clinic staff for clinic talks and public releases.
Animal Husbandry
● Weighing, cleaning, and feeding of adult and baby songbirds, woodpeckers, doves/pigeons, corvids, quail/turkeys, aerial insectivores, hummingbirds, raptors, waterfowl, reptiles, amphibians, and small mammals such as squirrels and chipmunks.
○ Rabies vaccinated interns may assist staff in the weighing, cleaning, and feeding of rabies vector species (raccoons, skunks, bats, foxes, etc.).
● Observe and assist in medical treatment of species listed above. Treatment may include administering medications, cleaning wounds, applying wraps and splints, viewing X-rays, and more.
● Spring and summer interns can expect frequent shifts feeding and caring for baby birds and squirrels.
○ Interns may be required to participate in late-night feedings for baby mammals as requested by staff.
● Spring and summer interns can expect to drive personal or company vehicles to and from patient release sites.
Requirements for Clinic Internship
● Must be at least 18 years of age
● Must have a valid driver’s license.
● Currently enrolled or recently graduated from higher education in a related field (wildlife science, environmental science, etc.) or interest in pursuing higher education in a related field.
● Must be able to work independently and cohesively with coworkers.
● Work safely, quickly, efficiently and calmly under stressful conditions and handle multiple responsibilities while following directions and protocols.
● Represent Wildlife Images professionally at all times including speaking in public.
● Able to lift and carry 50 lbs.
Intern Classes
● Interns will have recorded (remote) classes that they are required to watch throughout the internship. Classes will be accessible through a Google library and can be rewatched and accessed as needed during their internship. Some in-person classes may be offered depending on staff availability and clinic workload.
Internship Classes Offered – Taught by Clinic Staff
● Spring Session
○ West Nile Virus
○ Baby Bird Basics
○ Baby Mammal Basics
● Summer Session
○ Baby Bird Basics
○ Baby Mammals Basics
○ Fractures 101 OR Raccoon Roundworm
● Fall Session – Hybrid
○ Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza
○ How to Identify a Medical Emergency in Ambassador Animals
Intern Checklist
● Interns will be provided a checklist with tasks/skills that they are required and/or expected to learn. Many of the tasks/skills to complete are based on patient volume and status, and there is no guarantee that there will be an opportunity to be able to be checked off on the task/skill. However, clinic staff will try to ensure that as many items are
checked off as possible.
To apply, please email your resume, cover letter, and three professional references to internships@wildlifeimages.org
Exact start and end dates for internships vary from year to year. Please contact us for any questions or if you would like more information before applying.