You'll give very welcome assistance in a rescue centre / sanctuary that gives care, treatment and a home to wild animals, and monkeys in particular.

This Centre is run by a Foundation and is dedicated to the conservation and rehabilitation of primates. At time of writing, there are approximately 65 monkeys living in the Sanctuary and they come from varying backgrounds.  Some of the monkeys were orphaned when their parents were killed by hunters, others were rescued from animal dealers who were trying to traffic the animals out of the country, and others have been removed from families who had kept these animals in captivity. 

There are seven different monkey species in the centre (Spider, Woolly, White Capuchin, Black Capuchin, Squirrel, Tamarin and Saki). Unfortunately, the majority of the monkeys have suffered some sort of physical or physiological abuse. 

There are also other wild animals living in the Sanctuary, such as Coaties, Gautusas, Turtles, Parrots and an Otter.

The Sanctuary covers two hectares of tropical rain forest and they aim to enable the majority of animals to roam freely around the area so that they are not kept in cages.  The long-term goal is to rehabilitate the animals enabling them to successfully return to the wild.  However, some animals won't ever be able to return to the wild because of their physical and or psychological injuries. For these unfortunate animals, the Sanctuary provides them with a safe and secure, permanent home with a good quality of life.

Tourists visit the Sanctuary and the small entrance fee they're charged is the Sanctuary's main source of income. The Sanctuary uses the opportunity to try to educate local and foreign visitors on the importance of animal protection and conservation.

WORK CONTENT:
There is a variety of different work to do, but the majority consists of:

• Playing with the animals

• Caring for the babies

• Cutting up fruit and other food preparation

• Feeding the monkeys and other animals

• Helping new monkey arrivals to adjust to the Sanctuary

• Measuring and weighing the animals

• Studying their behaviour

• Protecting the more vulnerable animals

• Observing and monitoring those animals that have been released

• helping in the development of programmes on rehabilitation and release of animals

• General maintenance and cleaning

• Construction work, such as helping to build new enclosures for the aggressive species

• Enclosure Enrichment: Some of the most satisfying work you can do will be to provide some enclosure enrichment and mental stimulation. You can use your creativity to provide useful “toys” and games for them and monkeys take great interest and delight in new areas to explore. We provide you with our in-house guide of Suggestions for Enclosure Enrichment and you may be able to use or adapt some of the suggestions for Monkeys.

• Guiding and educating tourists on the harm that poachers cause to the environment by their illegal trade in animals

• Helping with suggestions and projects to raise funds to go towards protecting the forest, etc.

WORK SCHEDULE:
Normal working hours are from 8.00am until 17.00pm., 5 or 6 days a week and you may be required to work over weekends.

LOCATION:
The project is located 10 minutes from the jungle town of Puyo.  Travelling by bus from Quito takes approximately 5 hours.