Being an intern at CCWS was such a great and unique experience! I don’t think I would’ve made the connections, learned the things I did, and got to be a part of a program like this anywhere else. Every day was so different, with a variety of challenges and things to overcome. The work itself was hard, with long hours and high expectations, but it’s rewarded with getting to see your animals grow up and get healthy. The animals always come first; before your own sleeping, eating, and wellbeing, which is quite challenging at times. Training is almost exclusively ‘on the job’, so it definitely took a few weeks to become comfortable with the position. However, the animals here receive such a high quality of care that I wouldn’t change that level of commitment. I met so many great and genuine people here, and got to go through the good and the bad times with them. I also got the opportunity to be involved with the care of animals I had never even seen before, and learn about their anatomy, medical care, behaviour, diet, and so much more. The only thing I would say is that I wish got to work with a wider variety of animals while I was there, as only certain people receive certain animals, and I was only interning for 2 months and wasn’t eligible for many of the animals. That being said, there were people who were there for the same amount of time as me that were able to get many more animals, so that is not always the situation! Gaining knowledge through learning hands on was very rewarding, and engrained my respect for wildlife and all the work that goes into conservation efforts. I would recommend this internship to anyone interested in working with animals, or who has a love for them!”

-Maggie

2021