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Drop by the Zoological Wildlife Foundation facility and come visit our animal friends. Find out how to locate us here
Home | Get Involved! | Volunteer Services
Volunteer:
If you are looking to be an exotic animal keeper, veterinarian, or simply want to experience on hands interaction with exotic animals, there may be room for you to join us for a few hours daily.
Working with exotic animals takes a lot of patience and commitment. It is not just playing with them. There are special diets to be prepared, cleaning, specific handling techniques, etc.
It can be extremely rewarding for those who share our love and respect for these cherished creatures. But make no mistake; there is a lot of work to be done!
If you are a student and need community service hours, you can do them with us.
My name is Chelsea Rekis, I am 20 years old and I volunteer for the Zoological Wildlife Foundation. I can honestly say, that not only have I learned a lot from hands-on experience with animals, I love every minute I spend at ZWF. Spending my time here has been an experience of a lifetime. I guarantee this, in Miami you can't find many places that provide the hands-on interaction with wildlife like I have experienced at The Zoological Wildlife Foundation. I'd say it's like a big family here. You can tell how well-taken care of the animals are, and how much everyone dedicates their time and love to these animals.
Watching a baby Capuchin growing before my eyes everyday, helping and caring for injured animals, bathing wolves, swimming in the fresh-water pond, feeding and playing with the tigers, these are some of the daily tasks I fulfill at work, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
While working at ZWF you'll be face to face with wildlife everyday. Don't get me wrong, it's a lot of fun hanging out with the animals, but it's a lot of responsibility and there is work that needs to be done for the continuous health and growth of these animals. Most places where there are volunteers present, you never really get that hands-on experience, but at ZWF I can guarantee you will get that experience!
Camila Godoy & Maria Godoy recently started volunteering at The Zoological Wildlife Foundation, and they love every minute of it. The girls favorite thing to do is play with the baby tiger we currently have. Camila says she feels very comfortable here, and before she came here her first impression of monkeys were that they were too hyper, and too rough. Now that she’s been here and actually got to play with monkeys, she enjoys spending time with them, and thinks they are sweet and intelligent creatures. She said she’s always learning new things at ZWF! Maria loves the fact that all of our animals are very friendly, and she recommends ZWF to anyone looking to get experience with animals. Maria is studying to become a Veterinarian, and there’s no better place that she can get that experience than The Zoological Wildlife Foundation!
Elizabeth Tapanes (a new volunteer at ZWF) shares her experience:
Everyday at ZWF is a new adventure, because no two days are ever exactly the same. One day I’m taking care of a baby raccoon, another bottle-feeding a baby bear, and another day I’m running with wolves. It’s a lot of work also, but it’s rewarding to know that it is all to help care for these magnificent creatures (including the many dogs)!
The environment at ZWF is one of a great big extended family that I consider myself incredibly lucky to be a part of. I was raised with animals my whole life, and have worked with them ever since I can remember and I can honestly say that no other place has given me the hands on experience with wildlife that ZWF has.
I love it at ZWF, and all my words will always be insufficient. You just have to experience it for yourself! 
Chris shares his volunteer experience at ZWF:
Hey, Chris here! Zoological has been a great experience for me. You never stop learning here! For instance, you are always learning new things like making milk for a monkey or walking a tiger. The zoological team is really great at doing what they do, also there are always new things to do, new animals, and new people. Like the other day who knew I was going to meet the venom 1 guy! Everyone is always looking for things to make the animals life better, just by giving them diffent food everyday or some toys to play with. Every time I go I have fun, but it's not only just fun it's hard work taking care of all the animals including the baby monkeys and everything. Last time I was there, Mario (the owner) need my help because he could not feed all the babys alone so I was helping with the baby pigs and monkeys. Some people think that it's really easy to care for these animals like you just clean and put food there, but its not like that! It may look really easy till you try it. The team makes evrything look easy, and I love how all the animals are super friendly and love everyone here. At Zoological you will have a great life experience with all the animals and the hands on experience too. Not everyone can do this though, it's all about the love for the animals and the passion for the animals. If you truly love animals like I do, this would be a great place to learn what you need to learn about animals. I love every second I spend at Zoological Wildlife Foundation. I can say I am just truly lucky to be working and helping at Zoological with all the animal it's like a great big huge family. My first day there was fun and felt like I had been a part of the family for a really long time.