Wildlife Rescue Centre, Indonesia

I had the absolute best two weeks of my life volunteering at the centre. All the staff were lovely, the area is so beautiful, the accommodation was an excellent standard and working so closely with the animals was a dream come true. It was such a different way of life from the UK but it's beautiful. This experience has encouraged me to start studying a TEFL course in order I may be able to travel more whilst working and teaching English. Living out there is truly an eye-opener.

I spent two months volunteering with the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC). It was an incredible experience which I enjoyed every moment of. The staff were so welcoming and helped out with any problems or questions I had. The volunteer work consisted of helping the bear keepers to prepare food, clean cages and create a variety of enrichment for the bears. I came to realise very quickly how amazing and beautiful these creatures are and why everyone at the centre is so passionate and dedicated to saving this species. Each bear was different, all having individual personalities. I fell in love with them all!

A lot of the bears are very nervous about leaving the safety of their cages and heading out into the forest enclosures. Whilst working there I got to witness the release of two bears into one of the enclosures which was incredible! I look forward to hearing about more successful releases in the future.

I think what impressed me the most was the dedication of the staff and the hard work they have put it. Siew Te Wong (CEO and founder of BSBCC) has devoted his life to these animals and the future appears to look extremely bright for this organisation. I look forward to visiting the centre again once it is complete.

Volunteering for BSBCC was extremely rewarding! I highly recommend the programme.

The programme is an absolute must for animal lovers wanting to make a positive contribution to the lives of rescued wildlife in Indonesia.
From beginning to end - it's an action packed schedule to enable you to experience life as an animal keeper. From vet rounds to cage cleaning, and food prep to enrichment - there's something for everyone! The staff at the centre are extremely warm and welcoming and will guide you every step. You will experience a whole new way of life and learn so much about the wildlife of Asia on your trip. The team at the wildlife centre are like a family - you'll be welcomed in from day one.
If you have a passion for animals, want to get stuck in, you really want to learn and meet the locals then this is the project for you. I cannot speak more highly of the project! A once in a lifetime opportunity to make a real difference!

Due to the limited time, my experience was about 2 weeks only, it was too short but still see, feel, and learn a lot. Wong, Waipak, and the keepers taught me many things while we were working or resting. They taught me mot only about the species, but also the rainforest ecology, the policy, management, difficulties and so on. Besides, Wong introduce many other people who were also working or volunteering in Sepilok.

The works do make you sweat a lot, and the insects were like everywhere while your are working... But every minute at BSBCC was worth!! BSBCC might be the only (few) places that you have the chance to taking care sun bears with many enthusiastic people, and also really gain some knowledge from the working.

It was a great privilege to work as a volunteer for the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre (BSBCC) at Sepilok for four weeks. My first day commenced with an induction by the Sun Bear keepers. I was introduced to all Sun Bears, safety procedures were explained and the keepers demonstrated how to perform the work required. I assisted the keepers by preparing food, cleaning pens and making enrichment for the bears. The keepers were a pleasure to work with and my enrichment ideas were welcomed. The bear house is well designed and easy to work in. The neighbouring outdoor enclosure is a large primary forest area with many tall trees and plenty of shade. This area allows the bears to exhibit natural bear behaviour e.g. climbing trees, digging, breaking apart rotten logs searching for insects. As a volunteer you really get to know and recognise the bears individually. They all have different pale orange-yellow markings on their chest and all have their own personality. I particularly enjoyed observing the bears in their forest enclosure and during their enrichment activities.

While working as a volunteer I observed first hand the hard work, long hours and dedication of Siew Te Wong (CEO and Founder of BSBCC) and Wai Pak (BSBCC Project Manager). They are great ambassadors for the Sun Bear. They are extremely committed to helping the Sun Bear. I feel extremely privileged to have worked with such dedicated people and remarkable animals. I will miss the people and the bears but look forward to coming back and seeing how the bears have developed and progressed to their final destination, their true home, THE FOREST.

It is hard work in the hot humid jungle environment, but i love hard work, so it was perfect. You get to see & know so much about the bears everyday. We saw all kinds of other animals in the rainforest there too, orangutans, red leaf monkeys, macaques, snake, hornbills & countless other birds. You can learn so much about the precious eco system of the rainforest, both flora & fauna, from the centre's founder wong. You also learn lots about conservation & other wildlife issues from all the other people there. It is an experience i will never forget & will cherish till the day i die. & also a really important cause to support.

This was the first time I had done a volunteering program and I was really surprised by how much i got out of the 7 days.

The organizers and fellow workers at the conservation are just fantastic and extremely helpful to ensure that you get the most out of your experience.

I went with a friend and she had done a lot of volunteering in the past and classed the accommodation as the "hilton" of volunteering programs - so in short excellent accommodation and facilities.

Each day consists of something different and essentially involves you in the husbandry of the various animals. The week before we arrived, a baby sun bear "Badue" was bought to the center and its hard not to fall in love with an animal like that. So if you are animal lover, this is for you.

You also get to do some manual labor, which for me was the most enjoyable, being stuck behind a computer for 15 hours a day at work means not a lot of time to get my hands dirty and the cage enrichment/building was really enjoyable - i.e. start something from the beginning and watch something get built from the ground up.. if i went back i would probably take a power saw though! A lot of wood to cut!!

I would highly recommend this to someone who enjoys animals and wants to give a little something back to well deserved cause.

I am a HUGE animal lover, so to be able to work with/learn about/take care of a variety of wild animals was an amazing experience. The staff at the Center are super friendly, the program people want to make sure you get the most out of the experience, and working with the animals is truly priceless. I can not say enough good things about this experience. Each day you will help clean and feed a different type of animal so you can learn about each one (birds, monkeys, baby bear, and of course the amazing orangutans).....and you only have to participate at the level you are comfortable with. I truly recommend this program if you are interested in wildlife and would like to help/contribute in some small way to their daily happiness.