Food preparation: Unloading the food from the van, sorting all the produce (meat, fruit, vegetables, bread and dairy products).  You will either put it in storage or start to prepare it for the bears, removing any packaging and cutting up the food.
Bear feeding: You may have the chance of seeing the bears being fed your carefully prepared food items. They normally get fed by throwing the food over the sides of the enclosures or using the sanctuary vehicle. This is quite a difficult task, so you will probably just get to sit back and watch the bears come out the forest one by one for their food, often a highlight for volunteers.
Monitoring: Once the bears are fed, you might be able to get involved with monitoring work.  This involves observing the bears’ behaviour, health, hibernation, interaction and how they are adjusting to life outside.
Ad hoc tasks: You may may be asked to take part in medical procedures, checking the enclosures, walking and checking the site around the sanctuary and feeding the other animals at the sanctuary (wolves, donkeys, cows, chickens and dogs).
The staff at the sanctuary find the volunteers to be a great help and always have jobs for you to do, although the tasks will vary depending on the bears and their needs whilst you are there. Other tasks can include working in the educational centre, telling visitors about the bears and your volunteer experience, and helping with any ongoing promotional work.
You can read about returned volunteer Luke’s experience as a volunteer at the bear sanctuary.