Animals are suffereing and need your help! Work in a animal rescue center that is saving animals fom starvation, exploitation, and wrongful captivity. This work will give you an unique experience that you will never forget. The Rescue Center located in the Andean mountains of Ecuador.

The founders of the Amazon Rescue Center realized that it was necessary to start a rehabilitation and pre-release center in the Amazonian region of Ecuador a center of equal efficiency and with the same love and respect for the animal kingdom. Founding another center meant being able to increase the numbers of rescue operations and to put more pressure on the governmental institutions such as the Environmental Departments, and therefore help a higher number of animals. This idea that had been planted in the founders hearts sprouted in 2006.

The Amazon Rescue Center strives to continuously work towards improving the quality of care given to wild animals undergoing rehabilitation. The efforts have been accomplished essentially with the volunteers and the locals assistance, few funds, pre-existing facilities, and without government support. The Amazon Animal Rescue Center is responsible for the active rescue and rehabilitation of a wide variety of wild animals from unhealthy and/or illegal situations, victims of animal trafficking, mistreatment or habitat destruction. For volunteers this is a unique opportunity to work with and help a large number of wild animals, while working alongside and learning from an indigenous community living in a spectacularly beautiful area in the Amazon rainforest of Ecuador.

The volunteers are responsible for the daily caretaking of the animals that are at the center. This involves activities such as feeding the animals, cleaning the enclosures, maintaining the center and more! Volunteer Role: (Regular duties include daily cleaning of all the enclosures and exterior areas where the animals live and the preparation/distribution of the food to all the species of animals sheltered at the center. In particular seasons, volunteers regularly go on walks to collect wild fruits and leaves for the animals to include in their diets.

Activities vary each week a lot depending on the needs of the animals and the center at the time. All volunteers have to participate in the wide variety of projects planned for the center, anywhere from building bigger and better enclosures for the animals (a continuous all year round task) to improving access paths to enclosures, continuous animal observation, maintenance work, or in the different community projects that the center provides to the local indigenous families (helping with crops, fish ponds, facilities, schools&).

Everyday is an adventure! Sometimes there is also the opportunity to assist the local veterinarian in taking part in small medical procedures. Location: ( the center is located one hour away from Puyo. Puyo is the capital of the province of Pastaza and it is at an altitude of approximately 900m by the Puyo River, a tributary of the Pastaza River. This river eventually flows into the Amazon River. Situated in the Amazon jungle, the center is located at an altitude of about 900m. This makes for a warm but pleasant climate with sunny days.

Accommodation and Meals: (The accommodations are very comfortable: electricity (110V), gas for cookers, oven and hot showers, regular toilets, dormitory style rooms with 4-5 beds, a spacious separate kitchen with filtered water and hammock areas outside to relax after a hard days work! Volunteers take turns buying food at a local market and cook together in a nice and comfortable environment.

In your free time you can enjoy the following activities: * Baños is located on the northern foothills of the Tungurahua volcano. It is named after the hydrothermal springs of mineral water located around the city. Baños is full of adventure activities, you cant miss the Manto de la Virgin waterfall, ride a horse in the hills around the town, walk, hike or climb the surrounding trails and the volcano, mountain bike the breathtaking scenic road to Puyo or raft in one of the nearby rivers.

* Take a jungle tour to the Amazon rainforest. There are many tour operators in Baños and some in Puyo than can help you with this.

* Visit the National Park Yasuni. The park is primarily a rainforest that is approximately 9,820 square kilometers and lies between the Napo and Curaray rivers in the Napo and the Pastaza provinces in Amazonian Ecuador. It is about 250 km from Quito. The park was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1989.