LisaAnnOKane
Tampa, FL
Female, 32
During my zookeeping and environmental education career, I have interacted and worked with a variety of animals, including brown bears, wolverines, red foxes, moose, camels, mountain goats, dolphins, sea lions, raccoons, porcupines, snakes, raptors and ravens. I am also a young adult author, and my debut novel ESSENCE was released in June 2014 by Strange Chemistry Books. Ask me anything!
Hi Acelest, and thanks for such a great question. I need to be honest with you: I have questioned zookeeping as a career many times, and the reason has always come down to the salary. As a matter of fact, in recent years I have been forced to shift my focus away from the animals and more onto the management side of things. This has been a 100% financial decision.
It is an incredible shame, because zookeeping really is my dream job, but at the end of the day, almost every zookeeper I know either works two jobs or is partially supported by someone else. The reason is two-fold: the career is extremely competitive, so if you aren't willing to accept such a low salary, there are hundreds of people in line just behind you who will. Also, there is an abundance of entry-level jobs, but it is very hard to work your way up into a management position, because of the bottleneck of available talent vs. very few openings.
That being said, if zookeeping is your dream, I would encourage you without hesitation to go for it. I have never once regretted my decision to become a zookeeper, and I would not be the person I am today if not for the experiences I have had in this career field.
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Hi Natasha! Are you wondering about the methods for restraining a wild dolphin during a capture and release, or were you wondering more about a procedure with a dolphin in human care? I'm happy to help once I know a little more!
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Hi DJ, this is such a broad question that I would recommend actually researching this elsewhere. I wouldn't even know where to start--except to say we should always think about the big picture when we make decisions that affect the entire planet. Best of luck to you!
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Although this sounds like the classic Catch-22, it is actually quite possible to fulfill this requirement if you begin your zoo career by working as an intern. Almost every zoo offers an internship program--most during the summer, some during other seasons--and these internships are often a critical first step in paving your way into a zoo career.
The bad news: most internships are unpaid, and they are almost always full-time, so you may have to work a night job or rely on student loans or your savings for awhile. The good news: your possibilities will expand exponentially once you have completed an internship or two. (Although zoos LOVE to see vet experience, many of them won't even consider you until you have seen what happens "behind the curtain" at their facilities.)
I HIGHLY recommend the Job Listings page provided by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (http://www.aza.org/joblistings/). You can search specifically for internships, and the page is updated almost every day. A goldmine for future zookeepers!
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Hi Favre, I definitely believe that--first and foremost--wild animals belong in the wild. However, some people don't realize this, but the animals in accredited zoos in the United States are all there because they have been deemed "unreleasable" by an objective, third-party organization like the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service or the Department of Fish & Game. This means they have been evaluated for their probability of survival in the wild, and the decision has been made that they most likely won't make it on their own.
There are many variables to this, but the determinations seem to generally fall into one (or more) of the following reasons: they suffer from a permanent injury (blindness, an amputated wing, etc.), they have become accustomed to human handouts (problem bears in national parks, etc.), or they were orphaned at an early age or born in a zoo environment and never learned how to survive in an uncontrolled environment.
Decisions like this are never made lightly, and the welfare of the animal is always the highest priority. And once the decision is made for an animal to stay in human care, a comprehensive environmental enrichment plan is developed to ensure the animal receives the best care, training and environmental stimulation possible.
It's not the wild, obviously, but it's the very best we can do. And if those animals can serve as "ambassadors for their species" to hopefully inspire visitors to care enough about their wild counterparts to practice conservation, I believe this is a very important mission, too.
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Hi Hannah! I can't speak for all zoos, but in my experience, Curator positions were typically earned by zookeepers who received the necessary education (masters degrees are a huge plus!), put in their time "on-the-ground" and then worked their way up the chain of command to this role. The amount of hands-on time varies between zoos, but Curators typically spend most of their time on administrative and supervisory work. They also offer the "final say" on many decisions.
If you are interested in this role, I would recommend doing your research and then going for it! These positions are SUPER competitive, but if this is what you know you want to do, that will help you focus all your efforts on it while you are in school.
Best of luck to you!
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Hi Jim. Wolves are generally carnivores, and they specialize in hunting cooperatively to bring down large prey like moose, caribou, elk and deer. They will also regularly ingest smaller prey like rodents and rabbits, and they have even been known to scavenge--often caching food and coming back for it later.
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