Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand

So, this month WFFT- Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand- has become my new home, it’s about 3 hours outside of Bangkok in Phetchaburi. Everyone arrives on a Sunday and has the day to find their feet. You get handed a bag of bedding and shown to your dorm- ours was sandwiched between the macaques and the bears which is pretty cool. We got a tour of the centre and told about some of the amazing work they do here. The site is about 70 hectares and homes and rehabilitates around 700 animals, from bears to elephants, otters, primates, reptiles, pigs, cows and birds. Their stories are heartbreaking, but I’m so pleased that places like here exist to help them. Some animals are so injured or too domesticated to be released, but WFFT provides them with a forever home that resembles their natural environment as much as it can. Some have a short stay and are released back into the wild, which is amazing. Either way, these animals are the lucky ones. There are so many more out there being exploited in trekking camps, kept in tiny cages as pets and fed junk food, are force bred, are made to dance and perform on the streets or in circuses all for the tourists’ entertainment, or are kept and killed for the use of their body parts in medicines. So please, if you love animals and are wanting to see them when you’re travelling, find somewhere that allows you to do that in a way that is ethical. A way that gives back to the animals rather than exploits them. It’s so doable to be able to see them in a way that is great for you but great for them too- you just need to do a bit of research. Check the website, but also check other volunteers’ or travellers’ reviews too.

If you’re wondering exactly what volunteering somewhere like WFFT looks like, here goes... A day in the life of a WFFT volunteer:

We meet in the volunteer house at 6:30 each morning and find our teams. There’s usually about 3-4 people on a team and one of those is the team leader. The leader is someone who’s been there a little while and knows the ropes. If you volunteer for more than a week, you’re likely to be made one- I led the bear and primates teams and really enjoyed both. There’s teams for the bears, primates, nocturnals, quarantine animals and then the ‘other wildlife’ team covers everything else (think birds, pigs, reptiles). The morning up until breakfast consists of food prep (who knew I could chop cucumber so fast?!), feed out (watching the bears nibble a corn or scoop a watermelon is my favourite) and cleaning (pigs are notoriously unhelpful with this task). WFFT have a strict hands-off policy, which is great for the animals because it means they can be released or if this is their forever home it resembles their wild environment where they wouldn’t be interacting with humans all the time.

You then break for breakfast at 8- praise be those pancakes! And then you’re off on the job again til lunch at 12. That middle section can involve all sorts of things from scrubbing bear pools to collecting food, chopping bamboo or making animal enrichment. Yes it’s hard work, yes you’re covered in crap all day, yes I’ve never sweated so much, but my gosh YES it’s so worth it when you think that some of these animals have lived in unthinkable conditions, sat in their own faeces eating junk food (literally think burgers) for much of their lives and now they can have big clean enclosures and a proper diet.

The afternoon mirrors the morning with more food prep, feed out and cleaning. So you get to see a lot of the animals that your team is working on. I could spend all day watching the bears or the macaques, alas there’s too many bear pools to clean. Work finishes around 5 at which point you need to hose yourself down in the cold shower (yes there’s no hot water, deal with it, you live in the jungle now) and then eat your body weight in rice. I hope you like rice, it makes up 90% of your diet here. In fact I’ve heard the word rice so often now it’s lost all meaning. Praise be soy sauce for adding a bit of something to it. On the plus side, being a vegetarian is super easy here- there’s vegan and veggie options at every meal, and you’re in good company because working at an animal refuge means that you’re surrounded by vegetarians too. Also, bring games. Having Dobble and pack of cards on me saved our evenings (and helped make friends too!) You live in the jungle so you have to make your own fun.

You do get one day off a week, which you can use how you please. There’s a couple of places about 45 minutes away- Hua Hin and Cha Am- that you can visit for night markets, beaches and (best of all) PIZZA. Trust me, a couple of weeks in you’ll be craving something that isn’t rice. You’ll also need the new environment even if just for an evening as it can get a little cabin fever-y.

All in all, if you’re not afraid of hard graft, can live without too many home comforts, you’re not allergic to rice, and you love animals and want to see them in a way that gives back to them, this place is for you.

My personal favourite things about volunteering here have been:

Being surrounded by animals constantly. You can hear the gibbons in the day and the frogs at night. There are countless free roaming dogs and cats to snuggle when you’re missing your own furry companions. And the pigs enjoy a good stoke too. These domestic animals are the only exception to the ‘hands-off’ rule. Getting to watch the primates and bears and get a sense of their personalities. Some are sassy, some are sweet, some are completely over your existence, all are amazing. Meeting like minded people and sharing stories and travel plans with them. They’re also there to pick you up when you’ve had enough of the mosquito/rice/mud/cold shower element of volunteering. Being able to give something back. I love animals, always have, and I love working hard, sweat dripping down my nose, knowing that, though my contribution is a drop in the ocean, at least it’s going towards making their lives better.

Final tip: bring tiger balm and insect repellant bands. Those mosquitos are eating me alive.

Next week I move onto the Elephant Refuge side of the program at WFFT, and can’t wait to spend some time with these gentle giants.