Animal Behavior Intern
The mission of Safari West is to actively promote conservation and environmental education while sharing knowledge that empowers each individual to think sustainably about their role in the environment and wildlife conservation. Our research and internship opportunities are one of the ways we make this possible; we are able to advance interest and knowledge in wildlife and assist in creating advocates for the environment. Safari West is able to provide a competitive, convenient and educational experience that allows students and academic institutions to gain valuable skills and knowledge in a variety of fields. We are happy to be able to open our doors to qualified and passionate students trying to gain the necessary skills for a career in wildlife.
Safari West offers a dynamic, educational and innovative internship for students. You will have the opportunity to work in a unique environment with a wide variety of species. Students and recent graduates can apply for any of our varied internship opportunities. We currently offer internships in animal husbandry, animal behavior and events. Each internship opportunity has been specifically designed to provide the most enriching educational experience possible. Students interested in these opportunities are encouraged to review the outline and requirements for each program before they inquire.
Internship Application Requirements:
Applicants must be 18 years of age. All internships are unpaid. Currently, we are unable to offer housing accommodations, therefore housing and transportation are at the cost and responsibility of the intern. The intern must have reliable means to get to Safari West consistently before committing.
There are two internship periods available for the Animal Husbandry and Observational Animal Behavior internships: summer and winter. Events internships are only offered during the summer. Completed internships are based off of fulfillment of designated hour and month requirements as well as completion of a final project/paper. Official start and end dates are flexible and will be determined by the applicants’ schedule.
Summer internships: June – September; Application deadline – April 1st
Please send a completed application (link on website), resume and short cover letter, highlighting relevant experience, to Erika Defer at edefer@safariwest.com. Not all applicants will be offered an internship position due to the high volume of qualified candidates who apply. We strongly encourage applicants who did not receive an internship position to re-apply. All applicants will be notified of our decision by email or phone.
Safari West Observational Animal Behavior Internship
The observational animal behavior internship can focus on a variety of species we house at Safari West, as approved by the animal department management. The goal of this internship is to integrate students into the current and newly proposed research projects taking place at Safari West. Our objective is to have students understand how to independently conduct a research project through searches for relevant peer-reviewed literature, data collection, data entry and simple data analysis. Internships can be done in collaboration with a university and we can offer academic credits as approved by an academic advisor. Students are expected to come up with a research question which allows for behavioral observations. Observations can include time budgets, preference tests and other behavioral measures. Students may enter the internship in teams or groups if applicable to the research question.
Internship Requirements
- Availability: Completion of 50 hours of prelimary and recorded observations at Safari West, including a consistent schedule of a minimum of 6 hours per week of observations (preferably a minimum of 2 hours per day, 3 days per week)
- Approximately another 50 hours will be spent on the project proposal, ethogram, researching and reading peer-reviewed literature, writing and analysis
- Fabrication requirement: Formation of research question, ethogram and data observation sheets and final paper
- Data requirement: data collection, entry and entry-level data analysis
- Collaborative requirement: Intern must be able to work as part of a team and take direction well and be able to interact with employees and guests in a professional manner
- Self-motivated: Interns will be guided through the program but must be internally driven; they will be expected, after some time, to understand their daily responsibilities and be able to start their work without relying directly on orders
- Completion of behavioral research paper
Final Paper
- Interns will write a formal project proposal that needs to be approved by the internship coordinator
- Students will be expected to write a research paper containing an abstract, introduction, methods, results and discussion
