Work at Durrell (Jersey & Overseas)

Around the world, Durrell is supported by hundreds of volunteers, without whom our work would grind to a halt. Whether it's helping to hand-rear chicks in Mauritius; assisting our tortoise breeding in Madagascar or giving guided tours of our Jersey headquarters, the donation of our volunteers' time is invaluable to us.

We are always looking for volunteers to help us with our activities in Jersey. Our volunteer programme is restricted to Jersey residents, aged 16 or over, who are able to make a regular commitment. The areas in which we most need help are:- 

• Events
• Guided tours
• Landscape
• Organic farm 
• Maintenance
• Children's parties 
• Food preparation 
• General office
• Printed material mailings

Due to an unusually high number of volunteer applications being received at the moment, please be aware that there is a delay in response times. We apologise and hope that this will not deter you from putting in an application.

If you live in Jersey, Channel Islands, and would like to volunteer at our Jersey site, please print off the following Application Form (click here to open), fill it in and post it to the address shown on the form.

Durrell is delighted to be able to offer a number of work experience placements which will give you a unique understanding of working for an international conservation organisation. Our placements give you practical experience and an essential background in a rewarding and challenging field.

There is the chance to develop your skills across a variety of departments at Durrell; these include the animal, education, landscape, maintenance and marketing departments.

A typical placement in the animal departments will see the student assisting with routine tasks on section such as food preparation, enclosure cleaning, animal feeding, behavioural observations, animal handling, enclosure maintenance and assisting with veterinary procedures.

Students working as part of the Visitor Experience/Conservation Education team will be involved in delivering wildlife conservation messages to school groups, members and visitors to the wildlife park.

The Landscape Department provides an opportunity for students to learn landscape design within the grounds, pruning techniques, lawn care and the managing of our tropical exhibits.

Our Maintenance Department provide placements for students who are interested in acquiring painting skills, basic carpentry and building techniques within a unique setting both inside the grounds and at the Durrell workshop.

The Marketing Department provides students with the opportunity to learn how to promote and fundraise for a conservation charity. Placement activities range from helping to prepare and facilitate events at our Jersey HQ to being involved in implementing the marketing strategy.

A placement at Durrell will provide valuable experience to add to your CV showing future employers that you are committed to a career in the conservation sector.

To see if you are suitable to apply for a placement please review the following guidelines.

Students must be: 

• a minimum of 18 years of age 
• able to stay for a minimum of 2 months 
• studying a university degree in a related subject
• completely self funding 
• must find their own accommodation, Durrell can only provide a list of suitable places.
• If students will be conducting project work as part of the placement it must be approved by Durrell in advance.

If you are interested in further details or finding out about the application process please contact Catherine Burrows at Catherine.Burrows@durrell.org  for further information.

Working with animals is a very popular and highly competitive area. Wildlife conservation is not highly paid and the work can often be far from glamorous – dirty, smelly and repetitive. But if you are passionate about animals and job satisfaction is more important to you than making lots of money, then a career in wildlife conservation can be very rewarding

There are many different careers involved with wildlife conservation and many of the staff here at Durrell have answered questions about their jobs to give you a better idea of what is involved in different careers – all of which are essential for us to carry on with our mission of saving species from extinction.

Response time

If we have not contacted you within four weeks of the closing date then unfortunately your application has not been successful on this occasion. We would like to be able to write to all applicants individually, but this is not possible due to limited HR resources.

As you will no doubt appreciate we receive numerous requests on a daily basis regarding employment at Durrell. Unfortunately we do not have the manpower to respond personally to all enquiries received.

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