ARCAS Volunteering In Peten

ARCAS Rescue Center in Petén

The ARCAS Rescue Center is situated on a forested 45 hectare protected area on the shores of Lake Petén Itza next to the Peténcito Zoo. Volunteers live in a spacious two story wooden building with open, screened walls, situated in the middle of a beautiful tropical forest with comfortable wooden bunk beds, shower and toilet facilities and US-style 110V electricity. Volunteers eat and socialize at a separate kitchen/dining room rancho; there is a games room plus a very nice floating dock for late afternoon swims.

Depending on the time of year, the Rescue Center in Petén hosts anywhere between 5 and 38 mostly international volunteers, ranging from veterinary students looking to gain practical experience working with tropical animals, graduate students carrying out research in wildlife management and rehabilitation, and backpack travelers (mochileros) who simply want to contribute their tourist dollars and sweat to the conservation of Guatemalan wildlife.

The Rescue Center gives these volunteers the hand-on opportunity to work with such beautiful and endangered tropical animals as scarlet macaws, mealy parrots, kinkajous, spider and howler monkeys, peccaries, coatamundis, margays and jaguars.

See the annual reports on our publications page for a more complete list of the animals we work with.

The priority at the ARCAS Rescue Center is the welfare, rehabilitation and reintroduction of the wild animals received there, so volunteers should be willing to adjust their schedules, habits and attitudes to meet the needs of these animals. For example, it is often not in the animal’s long-term best interest to be handled or showered with attention.
Peten Volunteers Guidelines

Volunteer activities

There are certain responsibilities at the Rescue Center and everyone is expected to pull their own weight and work as a team. The animals do not work on our schedule; rather they follow their own internal clock which insists that they eat early in the day. The time for your rest and relaxation is later in the day when high temperatures usually demand it.

A typical day at the Rescue Center might consist of the following.

ARCAS TIME DUTY - example

  • 6:30 Animal Husbandry and Care
  • 8:00 Breakfast
  • 9:00-11:00 Chores around the Center
  • 11:00 Animal Husbandry
  • 12:00 Finish up Chores
  • 1:00 Lunch
  • 2:00 Animal Husbandry
  • 3:00 Individual projects, Relaxing, Trips to Flores, Swimming, Hiking.
  • 6:00 Dinner & socializing
  • 9:00 Bedtime
For volunteers Much of the work that takes place at the Rescue Center is in the maintenance and pre-rehabilitation areas; although in special cases they will help in the quarantine, clinic and rehabilitation cages. For long term volunteers or with advanced knowledge in animal care, there may be opportunities to feed baby birds like Parrots, woodpeckers, toucans and many other species.

When an animal requires it and the ARCAS staff indicates it, some species like baby howler monkeys, baby anteaters and baby carnivores may need more attention, closer care and even hand feeding. This is where some long term volunteers can be taken in consideration for this responsibility.
The rescue centre is equipped with a fully functional veterinary clinic where recentlyreceived animals receive immediate attention, special diets and treatments.

In addition to the regular daily feeding and care of the animals, ARCAS usually has special on-going activities in which volunteers can participate. These activities include:

  • Construction of cages or extra buildings.
  • Gathering of wild foods for the animals.
  • Giving tours and creating educational exhibits at Kinkajou Kingdom.
  • Participating in additional environmental education activities and community projects
  • “Enrichment” of cages and enclosures by adding toys, perches and other stimuli that help the animal in their rehabilitation process.
Depending on your experience and skills, you may also be asked to help in veterinary medical treatment and surgeries as well as in the periodic blood and feces samples we must take to monitor the health of the animals.

Perhaps the most satisfying work at the Center are the animal releases which we carry out 2-6 times per year. Volunteers may assist in these releases depending on time and space availability if the release is off site. All volunteers are able to participate in onsite releases.

The number of animals at the center varies depending on the time of year (breeding/trafficking season is April-July) however there is constant work all year round for volunteers working in the enclosures with the animals. The amount of work varies depending on how many volunteers are at the center, however when we have more volunteers we take advantage of any down times we have to do maintenance, or small project work to improve the center.

In addition, volunteers are encouraged to develop their own individual projects. If you see potential for such a special project, let us know and we will work with you to translate that idea into practice. In the past, volunteers have taken on projects such as developing interpretive exhibits and trails, studying the behaviors of animals in the Center and conducting educational activities in neighboring schools. It’s great to have ideas, but sometimes the difficult part is translating those ideas into practice.

Please read our “Peten Volunteers Guidelines” for more Information about Volunteering in Peten.

ARCAS relies on the support of our amazing donors and collaborators around the world.
Please join us or donate so our work can continue.

Donate Now