REARING injured orang-utans and wrestling man-eating crocodiles is all part of the daily routine for intrepid volunteer Caroline Bellhouse.

For the last eight months, her home has been an animal sanctuary in the jungles of Borneo.

She and her partner Keith Lloyd signed up as volunteers with Way Out Experiences, which organises expeditions, adventure holidays and volunteering schemes all over the world.

Caroline, a trained veterinary nurse, who was based in Malvern after university, met Keith in the primate enclosure at London Zoo, where he worked.

The two are now putting their skills to good use at the Matang Wildlife Centre, which rehabilitates wild animals that have been in conflict with humans.

Among her 60 patients are bears, porcupines, crocodiles, monkeys and deer, though her favourite is Aman the orang-utan.

She said: "He's had such a rough life. He's only 18 but he's going blind with cataracts, he's missing a finger and half his tongue was burned off by an electric fence.

"We're trying to get enough money for an operation to save his sight."

As well as mucking out and feeding animals with other volunteers, the couple help create new animal enclosures, promote the centre to visitors and help set up new projects.

Caroline is currently back in Malvern for a fortnight's break after a traumatic week.

"We had to do an autopsy on a crocodile who had eaten a child," she said. "It was awful. The boy's father was there as we pulled all that was left of his son - his underpants - from the crocodile's stomach."

She added: "So much good is done. You know you can't help all the animals, but you can help some of them, and that's an amazing feeling."

She and Keith are planning to set up a fund-raising campaign on behalf of the centre before the end of the year.