Wild Animal Volunteer Reviews

My time at the Cango Wildlife Ranch was a blast! Not just working with the greatest animals but also with the loveliest, funniest people was an experience for live. The hosts will make you feel at home as soon as you arrive. I’m so thankful for what I expected, I will always live with amazing memories of my time at the Cango Wildlife Ranch.

It was refreshing to work alongside people with such genuine passion for their job. I immediately felt at home and welcomed within the volunteering team. The continuous job variation never allowed for a bored moment and the balance between work and play was struck perfectly by the brilliant WAV hosts. Cango Wildlife Ranch is on the frontline of wildlife conservation efforts and if you want to be part of this movement I would strongly recommend volunteering here!

An absolutely amazing place that gave me an unbelievable experience with magnificent animals wonderful people and a calm loving environment.

If you you want to clear your mind and your body, regain faith in humanity, and put your love of animals into action this is the place!

I have Cango Wildlife Ranch and their animals to thank for the best summer of my life. From the diverse animals to the people, you will feel right where you belong. I have learned and experienced an invaluable amount!

Dear WAV Team at Cango Wildlife Ranch
I want to express my sincere thanks to your whole team for the kindness and care which you all bestowed on my daughter, Charlotte, during her stay with you.
She had an unforgettable time, and she will cherish the many memories she made with all of you, as well as with the special animals in your care.
She thoroughly enjoyed her stay, and has not stopped expressing her fondness of everyone with whom she was in contact.
Thank you for taking her under your wings, for making her feel safe and secure, for providing delicious and nutritious food, for supplying clean and comfortable facilities, for going out of your way to take her on weekend excursions, and for teaching her many life lessons during the daily interactions.
We will highly recommend your programme to everyone! Thank you for everything you are doing to conserve and protect our precious wildlife.
Many thanks!
Caterina Cannone

I spent 2 months (November-December) at the Cango Wildlife Ranch for my internship. It was definitely the best time of my life!
From day 1 you're a part of the WAV family. Made so many new friends that became family, had so much fun with everyone and made so many good memories.
I'll thanks all the staff so much for the great time and good memories.
It was so hard to say goodbye to everyone but I'll come back to see you guys again!

I spent two weeks here this past November and saying goodbye was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done! From day one, I was surrounded by amazing staff and very quickly friends who gave nothing but love and kindness. The work was hard and yet rewarding. Interactions and enrichment was one of my many take aways. Cango has changed my views on many topics regarding animals in captivity and I look forward in sharing this information to other people as well. I can’t wait to come back and see you all again 💕

Volunteering at the Cango Wildlife Ranch was amazing! One month was way to short for me. So many great people and (off course) beautiful animals. I really liked the program! there where a lot off different things to do. Not one day was the same. You'll learn many things about the animals, who you will also meet from nearby. Some things, like visiting the small school, I will always remember. So nice to see all those children smiling by giving them a nice day. Volunteering at the wildlife ranch was the best experience I ever had. I would love to come back some day.

I went 3 times to Cango and 2 times as volunteer... hope to come back again because it was my fav experience I did in my life. Enrichments for animals are the best thing I love that so much just see the behaviour of the animal and receive lot of interesting informations thanks to the curators, handlers and people form the tour. So everyday you can learn more and more. Every people take care about you and try to take the time to explain you lot of things. Even after work you can stay and be with the animals.
Thanks so much. I know I will come back.

I really had the best time of my life!

Everyday was so much fun. You learn tons of information about the animals and get the chance to get very close to them. The staff was amazing and they take really good care of their animals.

The Hosts are very welcoming, friendly and always there for you if you need something.

If you're thinking about going to Cango as a volunteer, I can only say... do it!
I can't wait to come back!

Best time I have had in my life.

Amazing zoo, amazing staff, and they all have a passion and heart for not only conservation, but teaching each volunteer that comes through, the importance of conservation, good zoos and animal care.

I gained tons of great experience and was especially lucky to work alongside the curators for extra projects occasionally. The curators are the best people to have in charge of the animal programs. I also met the best group of volunteers I could have asked for, and all the WAV hosts were so welcoming and friendly. Coming from America, I can really say I experienced the open, laid-back and diverse culture of South Africa, one that was truly a refreshing discovery.

Everything I experienced and more caused me to fall in love with all of Africa. Seriously, I could go on. If you’re reading this and are contemplating a volunteer trip to the Cango Wildlife Ranch, DO IT! You will not regret it!

Thank you for making the last 7 weeks an incredible experience!
Thank you for being there and helping in every situation. Thank you for making work so much fun and making all our wishes come true. Thank you for being flexible and listen to our ideas. Thank you for giving so much love that we never feel lonely!

I hope we will stay in contact and one day we will see each other again!
Much love!

I just wanted again to say thank you so much for this incredible & amazing experience that I was allowed to have here. It was a really special and unique one, and I learned so much! About animals, work, people and myself!

I know that you meet a lot of volunteers and people in general. And that it’s maybe not that special for you, but I did appreciate everything all of u did for me and the others. Although I was very shy and without any idea, you made me feel more and more comfortable and gave me the feeling that I’m part of something bigger. And that will I never forget!

With much love!

To Everyone at Cango Wildlife Ranch and the lovely people of WAV.

We just wanted to say a huge, massive and giant THANK YOU for making our time here as volunteers an unforgettable experience! We have learnt so much from you wonderfully passionate people and will be taking away so much respect and love for you all. Our time here has been much to short but you made us feel so welcome and we have certainly made friends for life, not just with the humans but the animals here too. If you ever find yourselves in the UK please know you always have somewhere to stay.

All our love.

I first want to start by saying thank you for everything you have done to make it fun to work here. I love you all and going to miss every one of you. Hopefully we will meet again one day. Love you all!

Dankie vir alles!

Thank you guys for two of the best weeks of my life. It was lovely to know you and work with you all and your will always have a special place in my heart.

Thanks again, love you guys!

I can’t thank you enough for all the things you made possible during my time in Oudtshoorn. Because of you, I always felt comfortable and that’s why I will probably never be really ready to leave the Ranch. I am so happy that I made the decision to stay there six more weeks
I want to thank you for trying to make all our wishes come true and for being patient with us and thank you for all the funny and exciting weekends we had together.

I really fell in love with all the animals, the program and the whole Ranch. I will definitely come back as quick as I can and I hope that you will remember me. Thank you for everything! I love all of you and I will miss you so badly!

A huge thank you to all of you for have making my time at the Ranch just amazing and unforgettable. I was never expecting that the past 7 weeks would become so funny and just awesome. I really enjoyed every second with you lovely people!

Saying goodbye now is one of the hardest things I ever did in my life but something is sure: this goodbye is not forever & memories never die!! I love you all so much!

You are my second family and we will definitely stay in contact! Thank you for everything.

It was the best experience of my life and you made us an awesome time!
There was no time to miss my family because you always cared for us like sisters.
I get just one word to describe my time at Cango Wildlife Ranch. HAPPINESS!
Therefore I have to thank you so much. I hope we will see you again soon!

I haven’t stopped talking about my experience since I returned home – my most frequent comment is ‘you know how you build up expectations and then it doesn’t always live up to it, well this exceeded my expectations. I have been able to recommend the volunteer programme to the son of a friend of a friend! – don’t know if he’s taken it up.

I do get asked – would I do it again and my heart answer is oh yes – but at my age there are still so many things/places to go that it’s probably not likely – a revisit – yes that’s a possibility – in the future.
I think one of the reasons for not replying sooner is where do I start/stop with how I felt and be able to praise everything without leaving anyone/anything out. I could probably write a book (well a chapter) about all the people, the experiences, so it’s difficult to single out certain things. All the staff, the hosts of the volunteer program were brilliant – Anina I can’t praise you enough for the whole manner in which you ‘manage’ the volunteers. I don’t know if we did have an exceptional group of people when I was there – but it did certainly felt that way – a credit to how it is organised. You may or may not know that there is still a WhatsApp group going. We did have so many good laughs – try playing Chinese whispers with all the different languages – hilarious. I don’t really want to single out people but it’s no discredit to anyone else – I suppose it also depends on that tasks that we did, how often and for how much we came into contact with various people – but I just want to mention how much I admire and respect Craig for his knowledge, his expertise and his ability to involve the volunteers within his training program – we gained so much. But that goes for all the staff who shared their knowledge with us and gave us such wonderful experience.

So once again – A BIG THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING –loved it all.
Love to you all.

I just wanted to leave you all a wee note, marking you all for your tireless efforts into making this volunteering programme as incredible as it is! From witnessing the passion and fantastic care that each and every member at Cango put into the welfare of the animals each day, is truly inspiring, and has made my experience beyond worthwhile! I am so thankful to have been allowed the opportunity to work alongside such talented people, and shall try my best to educate others and pass on the message of the plight, that many of the animals face!

Not only has this experience been a very educational one in respect to all the amazing animals, but also an incredible adventure! The energy and dedication that goes into the volunteers from the WAV Hosts, has made this an unforgettable experience! From skydiving for the first time, to walking with elephants, has all only been possible because of you guys, to which I really appreciate and am so grateful to be a part of this wonderful family!

Each and every aspect of the last 3 weeks has truly been incredible, and I cannot thank you enough for the warmth, great hospitality and kindness shown by each and every one of you! Please know that you are all more than welcome in Scotland!

Thank you for making this a truly incredible experience,
lots of love.