Are You An Animal Lover? Bathe Elephants & Feed Rescued Sloth Bears On Your Next Vacay

Wildlife SOS is an organisation that seeks to protect India’s wildlife through its operations like rescuing wildlife in distress, resolving man-animal conflicts and educating people about conservation. Its rescue facilities in Agra and Mathura let the public help out with this initiative through their volunteer programmes and guided tours.

If you’re past the threshold of the usual sight-seeing and drinking kinda vacay and want to experience something new, maybe, do a good deed too and are someone who loves animals, we think we’ve found exactly what you need.

Started in 1995, Wildlife SOS runs two rescue facilities – the Agra Bear Rescue Facility and the Elephant Care & Conservation Centre in Mathura – where visitors can volunteer, bath and feed animals, help with the preparation of their food, maintain their enclosures and do so much more that will definitely win you some good karma.

The “dancing” sloth bears at the facility in Agra {the world’s largest bear rescue facility} and Elephants at the Mathura shelter have been rescued from circuses and poachers where they were ill-treated, over-worked and kept in deplorable conditions. By volunteering at Wildlife SOS, you’d not only be experiencing something very unique but will also be making a positive impact towards the welfare of animals in India. The cost of the tours and any donations made by the visitors goes towards the upkeep of the two rescue facilities.

The volunteer program can be customised as per your requirements, so if you want to bath elephants and help out with making hammocks for sloth bears, you have the option of doing more of that too. These animals deserve love and care and who knows, they might surprise you and give you all their love too.

Price: INR 1,500 {for 90-min tour and activities} and INR 20,000 {for a five-day volunteer program, includes accommodation, meals, transport to-and-fro project site and activities}.

Check out their website here.