Conservation volunteers can work with animal conservation projects in the otherwise inaccessible (to tourists) Wasgamuwa region of Sri Lanka.
Crucial conservation
The main aim of the Wasgamuwa leopard project is to create a protected biological corridor extending over the central, north-central and eastern provinces. Your assistance in this crucial conservation work with animal species in danger of extinction will be of great practical value. In brief these are the objectives:
• conservation and protection of the native Sri Lankan leopard and its Wasgamuwa region habitat;
• to minimise human-leopard conflict (HLC) by studying leopard feeding ecology;
• to create standard protocols for monitoring leopard populations and reducing HLC issues, which can be applied to other regions in Sri Lanka.
Experienced supervision
The leopard research study provides a truly unique chance to visit many other areas of the amazing Wasgamuwa region, under the close supervision of experienced rangers. By participating in this study to estimate the density for the Sri Lankan leopard, you will also learn statistically rigorous mark-recapture methodologies. These are done by remote-photography and field investigations.
Jungle explorer
This is rugged work with animal conservation that challenges volunteers both mentally and physically. You need to be very physically fit and ready to walk 6 – 7 miles (10 km) a day in hot and humid conditions. In addition, be prepared to carry supplies and set-up camp in the jungle to position and monitor the cameras. You should also be aware that these hikes can be dangerous owing to the presence of elephants, sloth bears and other animals in the jungle.
However, if you relish the idea of hiking through the jungle in much the same way as explorers have done for thousands of years – this is the perfect activity for you!
Field research
Volunteers are divided into small teams to conduct field research – carefully supervised by experienced workers. This method of ‘shadowing’ and sharing the activities with other team members enables volunteers to master new techniques quickly.
Team work
The presence of experienced rangers helps volunteers to assimilate to local customs and encourages the development of close co-operation between the different nationalities in each team. The teams are assigned daily tasks that can only be achieved through full co-operation within the groups.
Strong bonds
After physically tiring days of field work in the hot temperatures, the evenings are fairly quiet, although there may be elephant observations, tree hut monitoring or data entry to attend to. Evenings spent around the campfire can foster strong bonds between the volunteers and local workers, and projects like this are a wonderful opportunity to gain in-depth research experience and work with animal projects – interacting with creatures that most people will never see in the wild.
Kathryn Noakes is the Sales Executive for Worldwide Experience, an online tour operator offering extended breaks on holidays where you can work with animal projects and other wildlife conservation holidays for adults.
