Volunteering in Zambia

Your Impact as a Volunteer

GRI’s Volunteer Programme was established in 2010. Since then, volunteers of all ages, backgrounds and nationalities have been sharing their skills, experiences and enthusiasm. Volunteers are a huge asset to GRI – they really couldn’t function without them.

Volunteers help us by:

• Raising awareness and valuable funds
• Becoming global advocates for GRI
• Assisting GRI with the many duties and activities necessary to run a successful conservation project
• Bringing fresh ideas, skills and enthusiasm to our projects

Choose the Base and Length of Stay

Volunteers can choose both their location and the length of their placement, with flexible options to suit your availability and interests. Each base offers a unique opportunity to engage with different stages of wildlife rescue, rehabilitation, and conservation.

Lusaka National Park
Base yourself at the Elephant Nursery, where the youngest orphans receive specialist care. Here you’ll also find the Wildlife Discovery Centre, an inspiring hub for education and awareness, and the rare opportunity to see two breeding white rhino.

Kafue National Park
Stay at the Elephant Release Facility, where older orphans take their final steps toward independence. Immersed in the wild, you’ll witness elephants learning to roam free once more, alongside iconic species such as lion, leopard, wild dog, hippo, and countless birdlife.

• 7 Nights – Lusaka National Park

• 15 Nights – Lusaka National Park OR Kafue National Park

• 21 Nights – Lusaka National Park OR Kafue National Park

• 28 Nights – Kafue National Park

• 21 Nights Combination – split between both Lusaka National Park OR Kafue National Park

Basic Itinerary

Lusaka Elephant Nursery (LEN) (relocated to the Wildlife Discovery Centre in Lusaka National Park in July 2022) where volunteers will complete biodiversity surveys in Lusaka National Park to gain a better understanding of the species presence and abundance within the area. Volunteers will learn and practice valuable in-field research skills, which may include: transect surveys; vegetation surveys; and identifying and tracking wildlife through spoor and scat observations. As this is where our elephant nursery is based, you will partake in animal husbandry activities also.

Kafue Release Facility (KRF) in Kafue National Park. Volunteers will visit Musa camp, the Resource Protection HQ and meet the rangers we support and discover how our Anti-Poaching units operate. They will complete biodiversity surveys within Kafue National Park, utilising the skills learnt in the first week of the placement. Additionally, volunteers may be to get involved with specific projects in our Community Outreach Programme including supporting local schools, women’s groups and clinics.

Volunteers will complete biodiversity surveys within the National Park. Volunteers will be given training and insight into the elephant behavioural observation studies that we conduct at our release facility and elephant nursery.

Volunteers will also learn about our elephant rehabilitation and release programme. Volunteers may also be involved with staff capacity building where they teach a variety of lessons and skills to the camp staff members and rangers (keepers). There is time here to relax and enjoy the bush as you will have more down-time.

Have a look here for more activities you could be involved in!

N.B. Community Outreach Projects may happen on occasion and are dependent on what is required at the time on the ground. They are not a guaranteed part of the Volunteer Programme.
Also a 2-night visit to the Primate Transit Home MAY be a part of your trip, depending on dates and trip structure!

Requirements

There is no experience necessary other than a keen interest in wildlife conservation. A Volunteer Supervisor will give each volunteer the appropriate training to succeed in this role. Volunteers with relevant experience is a plus, but it not required. Have a unique skill set that might be relevant? We’d love to hear about it!

Things to Consider

• Lusaka is a 7 hour drive from Livingstone. You may choose to fly out from Livingstone to avoid a long road trip back to Lusaka and also maximize your time at Victoria Falls.
• Time enough to get COVID testing done and receive certificate for travel.
• Please note that each volunteer will enter the country on a business visa which grants them entry to the country for 30 days. As our placement length is 22 days, this means all volunteers have the opportunity to explore Zambia for an additional week after their placement ends.
• Vegan food is not readily available in Zambia. We endevour to cater to this effect as best we can if we can, but please understand that it may be difficult at times. The Waterfront does offer a selection of Vegan options if we request them, subject to availability of ingredients.
• To avoid any disappointment about working with the elephants as a volunteer, Game Rangers International implements a “hands off” policy. Due to the nature of our work, whereby we aim to release the elephants back into the wild, we try to minimise the contact between the orphaned elephants and humans, with the exception of their rangers (keepers), who care for the elephants around the clock and form close family-like bonds. You may join the elephants in the bush to assist in research; however volunteers must keep a minimum distance of 10-meters between themselves and the elephants.

This is not a safari.

GRI has many projects operating apart from Wildlife Rescue (elephants). GRI’s work is continuous work with Volunteers coming in and out of that framework. GRI cannot conduct Wildlife Rescue without conducting Community Outreach or Resource Protection, so please be prepared to have days where you are working with local communities, entering historical data and quiet time. We cannot guarantee sightings of any wildlife, despite being in a wild space (Kafue National Park). During biodiversity studies, you may get lucky and one could see lion, leopard, wild dogs, cheetah and more! Such is life in the wild! Please also note that there are no dangerous game in Lusaka, apart from the orphaned elephants i.e. no lion in the Lilayi Reserve or Lusaka National Park.

We hope by participating in ALL the activities set in this Holistic Programme, you’ll get a first-hand experience into what it takes to truly Empower Rangers and Local Communities to Conserve Nature.

Medically Sound

You will need to provide evidence that you are medically fit to enter onto the GRI Volunteer Programme. Your doctor/GP must provide you with a letter confirming that you have sufficient physical and mental fitness to take part in the activities described and to live within the African bush for at least 25 days.

Medical Insurance

You must ensure that you have purchased a fully comprehensive medical insurance policy before you arrive in Zambia and that this includes cover for emergency air evacuation and repatriation.

Please ensure that your insurance package covers at least USD $50,000 medical evacuation cover and USD $100,000 hospitalisation cover. Please make sure to bring a copy of your health insurance policy and carry it with you in case you need medical assistance.