Animal Experience International (AEI) sets itself apart from competitors by focusing exclusively on animal-related volunteer experiences. This specialization allows the brand to offer a wide range of unique and immersive opportunities for animal lovers, students, professionals and adventure seekers.
AEI's Consent Based Tourism model is another differentiating factor that ensures all interactions are consensual from the communities hosting volunteers to the treatment of animals involved. This model promotes responsible tourism and ethical treatment of animals.
Additionally, AEI offers comprehensive support throughout the entire experience - from pre-departure training on cultural sensitivity and ethical travel to ongoing support during the trip.
Moreover, as a B Corp organization, AEI operates under high standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose which is not common among all competitors.
Lastly, AEI's small group trips led by a group leader provide an extra layer of comfort for those who may be hesitant about traveling alone or volunteering in foreign locations.
Small steps still deserve big celebrations
Sustainable and authentic change is rarely quick and easy. It is achieved through many small and often difficult steps. AEI aims to improve the lives of animals around the world and support the local communities of our partner organizations while empowering people to travel in an ethical and meaningful way. But truly, AEI's real goal is to not be needed. We want to live in a world where the conservation of species isn't just a consideration of people and countries, it's a top priority. We want animal welfare laws to be so strict and wide-reaching that no animals - wild or domestic, are exploited by people. But we realise we are not going to get there next year, or the year after. Real change takes time.
This means we celebrate the small accomplishments and get comfortable living in transitions, not in binary change. If we don't celebrate small achievements, we will never get to those big wins!
Our dog rescue and animal welfare partner in Nepal works with the local government to address the overpopulation and health needs of community dogs. The government solution had been to reduce their numbers through culling, which involved leaving poisoned food out, killing owned, domestic and feral dogs, and other animals indiscriminately. Instead, our partner now provides vaccinations and mass sterilization campaigns that have successfully controlled the dog population and improved their health. What do we want? No dogs to be hurt ever again, of course. However, we celebrate the small victory of having some communities in Nepal safe from culls, and the lives of many dogs saved. This small step - a community agreeing to follow evidence based scientific methods for canine population control, will hopefully lead us to a complete ban on culls and poisoning.
In Thailand, elephants are still exploited - a lot, by tourists. Elephants are wild animals, they have never been domesticated so for many reasons having them around humans is incredibly cruel. It is unforgivable that they are "broken" in crush cages as young elephants, that they literally break their backs when tourists ride them, and that male elephants' legs often become badly infected and sore when they are chained to keep tourists safe for pictures. What needs to happen eventually? All elephants should have no contact with humans and be completely left alone to live in large protected areas to keep them out of trouble and to keep humans from bothering them and getting hurt. But currently, this is not a possibility. While many protected areas exist in Thailand, there are many elephants who cannot be brought immediately to a wild area because they need veterinary care, psychological help and protection from poachers. This means there are still centres, our partners included, that offer elephants sanctuary and care. Volunteers are able to interact with some elephants in this way, helping to provide the elephants with environmental enrichment and supplemental food. Centres used to say that elephants could be ridden but the small victory was having no chains. Then all ethical centres banned people riding on elephants. Some centres allowed swimming with the elephants but after studies showed the harm and potential danger to both elephants and people, ethical centres also banned this practice. A small step towards elephants living in freedom, but a deeply important one. We celebrate that our partner in Thailand is taking steps towards the ultimate goal for these elephants - a life free and safe without human contact. Until then we will know how deeply privileged we are to have any consensual interaction with an elephant, especially one who is at a sanctuary to heal from a viscous and cruel chapter of their life.
Wherever the lives of people and wild animals intersect, problems are created that inevitably impact wildlife in a negative way. Wild spaces are being lost, polluted, divided and controlled by humans. It seems no place on earth is safe. Our partner in South Africa studies and protects sharks and marine habitats. When we visited this placement, Nora was able to take part in their study to determine if cage diving (when divers obverse the sharks from the safety of cages) opened sharks up to dangers because they recognized boats as helpful things that gave them chum. So far the study is finding that the sharks recognize boats with cages to be feeding boats and avoid other boats. It is probably true that highly intelligent whales can see hunting boats are different from recreational boats. But marine life still must contend with hazards such as boat propellers, fishing gear and trash. For example, in British Columbia, a Humpback whale was just hit by a ferry. It should not be the responsibility of wild animals to recognize human dangers and avoid them. The first step to helping these animals is have a less fragmented natural world for them. More spaces that aren't broken up by roads, mining, logging and development. More marine protected areas where massive ship traffic and fishing isn't allowed. It isn't about getting rid of all roads, it's not about getting orcas to sink all yachts (or maybe it is haha) - it's about seeing how we can share Earth. What small steps can we take now that can lead to a much different and a much better future.
Are we striving for perfection? Absolutely. But we know that won't come overnight, it will be a result of countless small and wide ranging changes. And they will be celebrated because each one brings us closer to the world we dream can exist - a world where humans and animals live in freedom and without cruelty.
The Human Beauty Podcast
Want to have an amazing animal experience.. internationally? Of course you do! On this short but sweet podcast Nora speaks more about accessibility, justice and of course animals in travel. Give it a listen and tell us what you think!
Monkeys in my Closet?
Looking at the 5 universally accepted rights required to protect animals’ welfare is vital to assess whether an animal benefits from its living situation. Animal sanctuaries typically aim to meet these rights as closely as possible, whereas zoos may neglect some elements on the premise of profiting economically.
How to Virtually Help All Animals... Remotely.
We are all going to be home for a bit longer so do you want to help animals from your backyard, phone or even computer? You are in luck because I wrote an article all about it for Fanimal. Check out all the different ways you can be a citizen scientist and help animals from bumble bees in your backyard to penguins in Antarctica! Read How to Virtually Help All Animals… Remotely. and then share it with your friends and family. Come back and tell us how you helped animals!
Be safe y’all, with your insides and your outsides.
Nora
4 Incredible Women Making a Difference in Animal Welfare
Though you may double-tap any Instagram photo starring an animal, likes don’t do much to improve their quality of life. From elephants captured in Thailand to amuse tourists to mistreated household pets, there are countless situations where humans need to change their attitudes to prioritize animal welfare. In an effort to build a better tomorrow for fauna of all kinds, these four incredible women have dedicated their lives to activism for animals. Here, discover their stories — and the meaningful ways you can contribute to a difference.
The activist who is paving the way for ethical animal tourism
Who: Nora Livingstone, CEO and Founder of Animal Experience International
Her history: Livingstone’s first love was dogs: big, small, fluffy, silky — she loved them all….
Introducing bite sized animal volunteer experiences!
We now have 1 week programs available!
You spoke, we listened! While we would love to all have months and months every year to go volunteer with animals, sometimes that just isn't feasible. Our jobs, families and lives are jam packed already. So what can we do to help even more people help animals: Introducing 1 Week Experiences!
Over the next few days we will be rolling out new prices for our partners that can take volunteers for 1 week experiences. It won't be all of our programs, some have so much training that 7 days is just not enough to get the full experience, but there will be quite a few that welcome shorter term volunteers.
This not only means a smaller investment of time, it means a smaller investment in fees. We won't be cutting any corners, the programs still receive donations, you still get travel insurance, your in-country travel is still carbon balanced and you still get to have one of the most amazing trips of a lifetime! Hopefully these amazing experiences will fit into your life just a little better.
What programs will you be able to take part in for one week? Sea turtle conservation in Costa Rica, flying fox rehabilitation in Australia, dog rescue in Mexico, elephant recuperation in Thailand, baboon care in Southern Africa and many more! Check out the website and take a look!
Remember, we also run short expeditions once a year for those who want to volunteer on a program in a group! In 2019 we are going to Guatemala to volunteer at a wildlife centre. Our volunteer coordinator will be taking people to northern Guatemala so they can safely and humanely volunteer with toucans, wild boars, monkeys and more! No experience is required- all the training is on the ground. 10 days in Guatemala, what a way to live your dreams!
We Are Arc Benders!
Combining Adventure with Animal ConservationNora Livingstone, Founder & CEO of Animal Experience International
Nora Livingstone is the founder and CEO of Animal Experience International, a certified B Corp on a mission to help animals around the globe by matching clients with animal related volunteer opportunities at sanctuaries, hospitals, wildlife rehabilitation centres, research projects and government programs. Her mission is to empower students, professionals and animal lovers to travel by providing exceptional volunteer adventures!
She shares how AEI got started, the lessons she’s learned along the way, and her advice for people that want to find their purpose.
What initially inspired you to make a difference and what career path did you follow?
I sort of fell into it, not realizing what my dream was or what my purpose was. When I graduated from university I decided to travel and volunteer. I thought that I would love for other people to do this and I wanted to help my friends have the same experience.
It was a low stakes idea – I could tell other people how they could volunteer. I was a volunteer coordinator at a wildlife center in Canada, which is where I met my current business partner. She’s a veterinarian there. After I left that center, I floated around for a while.
I loved coordinating volunteers and getting people involved and investing in people. I especially appreciated the amount of help and benefit that can go into one project, if you have a team. My (now) business partner, Heather, came up to me at a BBQ and basically pitched the idea for Animal Experience International…
Bold Moves Podcast, episode 199
What is a bold move? Is it starting a social enterprise without any business background? Is it trying to make a difference? Or.. is it believing you CAN make a difference.
Nora sits down with Mandie from the Bold Moves Podcast to talk about big moves and how you can live messy and sparkly and authentically while helping animals.
Travel Towards a Career.
Travel isn't magic, it isn't going to make you taller, it isn't going to make you funnier, it won't make you rich... but maybe it can help you find you.
What if when we booked trips we didn't see them as debt inducing, we saw the cost as investment? What if we looked at the world as a classroom? What if we didn't label travel as a separate and different part of life? Then, what if we didn't label our home as 'the real world'?
What if the whole world, our whole lives, all our experiences were important? What if travel wasn't 'just' for tourism? What if it was an investment in our future?
Those are a lot of questions, maybe your next trip will just be a vacation on a beach, perhaps it will be going to visit friends in a new town. Even though we are more than the sum of our parts, our travels, no matter where they lead us, change us. All our experiences mould and change us, if we realise it's happening or not.
Our co-founder, Nora found this out when she went to Nepal in 2007. She didn't go to intentionally change her life, she didn't even think it was possible. She just went and now more than 10 years later she credits that first big trip as one of the reasons AEI exists today. You can read more in an article she contributed to in Student Loan Hero.
We tell ourselves all kinds of reasons we shouldn't travel: we don't have enough money, we haven't worked enough yet, we haven't travelled enough before a big trip....
We want to inspire people to invest in themselves and in their future. Travel maybe won't suddenly change your life, but what if it did? What if hundreds of tiny little travel experiences changed your life over the course of a few years? Why not take the chance? Why not book the ticket?
We'll help you change your life through travel. We'll help you invest in yourself and your future. We'll help you do this while you help animals, local communities and broader ecosystems. We did it and we will be with you every step of the way.
Contact us to talk more about where you want to go and how we will get you there!
Apply to volunteer on an international animal program with AEI.
