Kid Territory:Jobs: Taking Care of Animals

In the Children’s Zoo, keepers bring out animal ambassadors for young visitors to meet up close.

Field keepers at the Wild Animal Park use large trucks to help them take care of 200 to 350 animals each day.

Food must be prepared for a variety of appetites. Here, food is being prepared for some of the birds in the Zoo’s collection.

When keepers need to work with a baby animal that would normally stay in its mother’s pouch, the keeper will wrap the baby in a blanket to make it feel more secure.

Animal trainers share conservation messages to Zoo and Park visitors during shows. This sea lion helps spread the message about the importance of keeping our oceans clean.

What we do

Keepers and trainers are responsible for the health and well-being of the animals in their areas. We prepare and distribute food (sometimes lifting and carrying heavy sacks and bales!), count and check all the animals for signs of illness or behavior changes, clean up enclosures, and sometimes collect samples of urine or feces to send to the lab. We conduct animal observations, keep records, provide the animals with enrichment, and train animals using a technique called “operant conditioning,” a system that uses positive rewards. We also talk to the public, answering questions or presenting animal ambassadors to groups.

Some animal caregivers only work with one type of animal, while others work with many different species. Keepers at the San Diego Zoo work in particular areas called “strings,” while keepers at the Wild Animal Park may work in the large field exhibits. Keepers in the animal nurseries care specifically for animal babies, which require special feeding and medical care, and then help reintroduce them to their families.

What’s cool about this job

Taking care of animals is a dream job for us. Making the animals feel good and having them recognize you as their caregiver is very rewarding. Working with a variety of exotic animals up close is a thrill, and enjoying the animals’ individual personalities and behaviors and learning new things about them every day is fun and exciting. We get to work outside and witness amazing things like animals being born. Teaching people about animals and making a contribution to conservation is also a very important and rewarding part of the job.

Job challenges

The animals are smart, and it can be a challenge to come up with new enrichment ideas to keep them active and interested. It can also be a challenge to adapt quickly to unforseen events or emergencies that come up. We work closely with our animals and get to know them as individuals, but sometimes we have to accept decisions made by curators to move an animal to another zoo or keep it off exhibit. And then, of course, it is difficult and sad when one of the animals dies. We have to realize they can’t live forever, but it helps to know we did the best we could for them and they lived a good life here.

How this job helps animals

We keep the animals comfortable and happy, and by exhibiting them in the best way we can, it helps visitors appreciate and understand animals they might not ever see anywhere else. Once they gain that knowledge, they begin to care about the animals too.

How to get a job like this

Get experience working with animals. Take care of your own or your neighbor’s pets, volunteer at animal shelters or local wildlife rehabilitation centers, work at a stable or farm. Study biological sciences, animal behavior, or zoology in school and get a college degree. Look for colleges that offer animal care programs. Be flexible about your schedule, and start out at a small zoo where you can get a lot of experience in many areas, before you apply for jobs at the large zoos.