Wildlife Rehabilitation Internships

2026 Program Schedule:

Sunday May 24 - Saturday August 15, 2026

Application Deadline: April 1, 2026

Intern Program Information Documents

Printable documents with complete descriptions of the current programs, including duties, requirements, and application instructions, are available through this link:

• Wildlife Rehabilitation Internship Program (2026) (v12/04/25)

• Wildlife Rehabilitation Husbandry Internship Program (2026) (v11/26/25)

About Lindsay Wildlife Experience and the Hospital

Lindsay Wildlife Experience, a natural history, environmental education, and wildlife rehabilitation center located in Walnut Creek, California, connects people with wildlife to inspire responsibility and respect for the world we share. Founded in 1955, Lindsay houses a collection of live native California animals, an Exhibit Hall with hands-on discovery activities for children and changing natural history exhibits, and a wildlife rehabilitation hospital. We are licensed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. With a caseload of approximately 4,000 native wild animals each year, we are one of the oldest and largest rehabilitation centers in the nation.

The goal of Lindsay’s wildlife hospital, started in 1970, is to rehabilitate and return injured and orphaned native wild animals back to their natural habitats. To give them a chance for survival after release, our patients are kept as wild as possible. Animals are handled only when necessary for feeding, cleaning, and medical care; infant animals are raised with their own species and are not socialized by humans.

Wildlife Rehabilitation Internship Program Descriptions

This unpaid educational position requires a self-motivated, flexible, and responsible individual with good problem-solving skills for a job that can be intense, fast-paced, and often repetitive. The intern helps with care and treatment of injured or orphaned native California birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians.

Working in conjunction with Lindsay staff and over 200 volunteers, interns are given the opportunity to learn about all aspects of wildlife rehabilitation with hands-on experiences. Wildlife rehabilitation combines aspects of veterinary medicine, animal husbandry, and biology/natural history to provide rehabilitation care specific to each native species. (Lindsay currently sees about 100 species commonly or semi-commonly, with about 100 additional species seen infrequently.)

Lindsay currently offers two types of internships. Complete program descriptions, including primary duties, are available through the specific links at the top of the page.

• Wildlife Rehabilitation Internship: Includes both husbandry and medical training and experience.

  • • With the Wildlife Rehabilitation Internship, skills you can learn include: identification of the most common species in the region, basic care and husbandry needs of native wildlife, proper handling and restraint procedures for a variety of species, wildlife nutrition, basic bird and mammal anatomy, medication preparation and administration, fluid therapy, basic initial exam procedures, parasitology, microscope skills, basic raptor care, and time management skills. Interns work closely with Wildlife Rehabilitation Technicians, RVTs, volunteers, and veterinarians.

• Wildlife Rehabilitation Husbandry Internship: For individuals that wish to expand their knowledge on proper husbandry of native California wildlife.

  • • The Wildlife Rehabilitation Husbandry Internship is suited for individuals that wish to expand their knowledge on proper husbandry of native California wildlife. The main focus of this internship will be to provide hands-on animal husbandry experience rather than medical experience. However, there may be opportunities to learn about the medical aspects of wildlife rehabilitation as the internship progresses. Skills you can learn include: identification of the most common wildlife species in the region, basic care and husbandry needs of native wildlife, proper handling and restraint procedures for a variety of species, wildlife nutrition, basic bird and mammal anatomy, and document and time management skills. Husbandry interns work closely with the Wildlife Husbandry Coordinator, Wildlife Rehabilitation Technicians, volunteers, and veterinarians and reports to the Wildlife Husbandry Coordinator or volunteer shift leader.

We also offer Research Internships for students working on degree programs, and veterinary externships. Please inquire for more information.

Program Completion Requirements

The program requires completion of:

• A minimum of 200 Intern Program hours during the 12-week session.

  • Minimum of three 5.5-hour shifts per week for the 12 weeks, usually 2 weekday shifts and one weekend day shift per week. Additional shifts may be added by prior arrangement.

    • • Wildlife Rehabilitation Internship: Two of the weekly shifts are patient care/husbandry shifts, one shift is a medical shift under the direction of wildlife rehabilitation technicians and veterinarians.

      • Wildlife Rehabilitation Husbandry Internship: All shifts are patient care/husbandry shifts with some emphasis on developing new/updated procedures.

  • Shifts are usually 8:00 am - 1:30 pm (AM shift) or 1:30 pm - 7:00 pm (PM shift)

    • During “baby bird season” (May – August) there is opportunity for additional shift coverage from 7:30 - 8:00 am and 7:00 - 8:00 pm. During the extended shift hours there is more opportunity to work closely with the technicians.

  • Includes weekend and holiday shifts 

  • Alternate scheduling, including an extended timeframe into the next session, may be available by prior arrangement. Interns can choose to continue on after their session ends to receive more advanced hands-on instruction and accumulate additional hours

• All required training, including orientation on Sunday, May 24th and Monday, May 25th, and weekly class sessions on Monday evenings from 6:00 – 8:30 pm. (Some of the required training may require attendance on a non-shift day.)

• An intern project.

Program Session

The 12-week Intern Program session is scheduled to align with college/university semester system calendars. The program session includes required orientation classes on Sunday, May 24th and Monday, May 25th, and regularly scheduled “hands-on” training classes on Monday evenings from 6:00 – 8:30 pm. Interns are expected to be on-site with a regular work schedule.

• Session : May 24 - August 15: Timed to correspond with common college/university semester system summer breaks. 

There is the opportunity, by previous arrangement, to start husbandry shifts at an earlier date, gaining additional credit for intern program hours. An early start requires acceptance into the hospital shift volunteer program and completion of initial training.

Application Process

How to Apply

To apply, submit a cover letter, resume, and fill out the Intern Availability Form, by April 1, 2026. References or letters of recommendation that would assist in our evaluation may be included.

• Indicate which internship program is of interest in your cover letter.

• Email submission to: hospitalrecruiting@lindsaywildlife.org

• Please include “Intern Application” as part of the email subject line.

Note: If your work experience and references are not directly related to the field, then the cover letter becomes very important, relating your past experience and career goals to the wildlife hospital intern position.

Important Dates

Application deadline: 11:59 PM (PDT)  April 1, 2026

Lindsay reviews applications: April 2 – 4, 2026

Lindsay schedules interview: April 5 – April 11, 2026

Lindsay notifies applicants of decision: By April 19, 2026

• If accepted, please let us know within 7 days whether or not you will accept the internship position.

Deadline to accept internship and submit required paperwork: 11:59 PM April 30, 2026

Shift schedules are posted: May 15, 2026

Orientation: Sunday, May 24, and Monday, May 25, 2026