Position Descriptions:
Inexperienced volunteers will be considered
if they
are hard-working, fast-learning, enthusiastic
and
prepared to cheerfully fulfil tasks
such as walking
tourists from our entrance gate to
the reception to
explain the basic rules on the way,
working in our
curio shop or helping out at reception.
However, we
are particularly keen to fill the
following positions:
1. Multilingual
rangers/guides
Monkeyland funds itself through revenues
from tourists who take educational
tours in our 12ha free-roaming indigenous
forest environment which houses over
300 primates. Each tour is one hour
long and must leave the tourists with
general primate knowledge, information
about each of the species that could
be located in the sanctuary and an
understanding that primates do not
make good pets but are happier in
the trees with peers of their own
species. German guides are particularly
in demand, but any knowledgeable person
who can use entertainment to further
environmental awareness will be considered.
We have recently opened the worldÕs
largest aviary with around 140 bird
species, so any interested parties
with bird knowledge and experience
will also be considered.
2. Fundraiser/grant
proposal writer for TAMFH
The "Touch A Monkey's Heart Foundation"
is the sole
custodian of all the primates at Monkeyland.
It is a
registered Non-Profit Organisation
(008-464 NPO) and
actively works towards providing primates
with a
better and more natural life. TAMHF
is also involved
in educational and environmental projects
such as the
Bushmeat Crisis Africa (www.bushmeat.org.za).
The most vital TAMHF project at present
is the creation of a Special Monkey
Home for primates who are disabled,
orphaned, elderly, blind or otherwise
unable to live happily in the 12ha
Monkeyland forest. Our goal is for
this project to include an education
centre especially for children to
learn about nature, recycling, gardening,
pollution, conservation and of course
primates. There are many projects
to be done, but the main skill currently
lacking at TAMHF is fundraising and
grant proposal writing in order to
generate the necessary funding. Please
visit www.tamhf.org.za
for more information.
3. Students
with photography/filming skills for
documenting primates
A comprehensive catalogue of all the
Monkeyland
residents has not yet been made and
most of the
information about our primates exists
only in the
notebooks and minds of our two primate
keepers.
Compiling and typing up this information,
along with
taking photographs and film footage
of individual
primates is an important big project
that we would
like to begin asap, but volunteers
would need to bring
their own photographic equipment.
Ideally, the
applicants for this position would
also have
experience in collecting and analysing
behavioural
data about each primate. Close cooperation
with our
knowledgeable primate keepers is imperative
and will
certainly be highly educational for
any primate
enthusiast.
4. IT specialist
ThereÕs a whole bunch of equipment
that needs
servicing and regular fixing in our
Monkeyland office
Ð so if you have extensive working
knowledge of
computers but nonetheless wish to
live in a beautiful
natural environment with a chance
to help out on
outdoor projects whenever computers
and time allow,
then this is the perfect place for
you.
5. Public relations/Marketing
Monkeyland depends on visitor interest
to fund itself.
Therefore, PR and marketing are extremely
important for raising awareness about
our projects. Stories can be written
about our primates from a myriad of
different angles for a huge variety
of readerships and publications. This
position would be ideal for a young
wildlife journalist who would like
to gain experience in writing, photography,
getting published in different sorts
of publications, writing press releases
(e.g. when new primates are born or
arrive at the sanctuary), encouraging
professional journalists to write
about us, taking journalists on special
tours etc. Monkeyland takes a very
modern approach to publicity and we
try hard to balance out entertainment
and education to reach as many people
as possible in our quest to educate
the general public about the plight
of primates. Working closely with
our marketing manager will prove to
be fun and enlightening for any primate
enthusiast with a gift for writing.
6. Volunteer
coordinator
There are many vital tasks and projects
(such as
primate cataloguing, behavioural observations,
escorting tourists into the sanctuary
to explain the
rules or taking guided tours, gardening
and
maintenance etc.) that can be completed
by volunteers, but our problem currently
is to organise and monitor the volunteers.
The volunteer coordinator position
includes working with the primate
keepers to prioritise projects, organising
for the right
volunteers to work on these projects,
mediating
between volunteers and management,
picking up new
volunteers from town, taking volunteers
to go
shopping, determining sleeping arrangements
in
volunteer accommodation and helping
with organisation of entertainment
in the local area on off-days.
7. Volunteer
veterinarian
Although we are extremely happy with
the skills and
enthusiasm of our local vet in Knysna
(approximately
50km from Monkeyland) there is no
on-site vet and the primate keepers
must often tackle medical issues
themselves. Regular monitoring of
the health of over
300 primates of 12 different species
could be a
full-time task. Since we advocate
leaving the animals
in their free-roaming environment
(a 12ha indigenous
forest) as much as possible, medical
intervention
would only occasionally be necessary.
Therefore, any
applicant for this position must also
be happy to
fulfil other tasks such as guided
tours. Our volunteer
vet must be experienced and able to
work closely with our local vet, which
will be a highly enjoyable and educational
experience.
Qualifications/Experience:
Genuine interest in primates and fluent
English are
vital for each Monkeyland volunteer.
If you are
interested in any of the above positions,
please send
us your CV and describe what knowledge/experience
makes you the right candidate for
the job.
Salary/funding:
None
Support provided
for volunteers:
Volunteers are provided with accomodation
in our
volunteer houses & caravan. There
are singles, doubles and dormitories,
and allocation depends on
availability of space and length of
stay.
Meals cannot be provided, but the
accomodation
includes a fully equipped kitchen,
and around R250
($40) per week will be more than enough
for food if
you stick to the local farms &
supermarkets as opposed to restaurants
in town. Transport must be paid for
by the volunteer, though we can arrange
pick-ups from the local bus station
or airport in Plettenberg Bay. Basic
ranger uniform is provided, but any
khaki-coloured clothing you can bring
will come in handy, especially in
winter.
Term of Appointment:
Ongoing, minimum 3 month stay
Application
Deadline: Rolling
Contact Information:
Lara Mostert
Monkeyland
P.O. Box 1190
Plettenberg Bay 6600
South Africa
