r/Zookeeping

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping to get some advice from current or former keepers on what else I can be doing while I’m actively applying for entry-level zoo animal care roles.

I’m a career changer trying to transition into zookeeping from a nontraditional background. My degree is in physics, and I previously had experience in astrophysics research and web development/visual design, but over the past year I’ve been intentionally building animal care experience and working toward a zoo career.

I currently work full-time in shelter animal care, mostly with dogs, where my daily work includes husbandry, cleaning/sanitation, feeding, enrichment support, behavior observation, handling, and adopter interactions. I’ve also worked/volunteered at an exotic animal sanctuary with species including wolf hybrids, capuchins, marmosets, servals, foxes, raccoons, skunks, porcupines, armadillos, cavies, kangaroos, emus, parrots, reptiles, and other ambassador animals. I also have farm animal/public engagement experience with goats, sheep, alpacas, llamas, donkeys, rabbits, and chickens.

I’ve completed the AZA Behavioral Husbandry Best Practices course, Fear Free Shelters Certification, and dozens of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Academy courses in animal learning, enrichment, welfare, safe handling/restraint, zoonotic disease/biosecurity, nutrition, recordkeeping, and related topics.

Locally, I’ve reached out to the wildlife rehabbers, zoos, and animal facilities available in my area, but there are not many options nearby and I haven’t had much traction yet. I’m applying broadly to entry-level keeper roles, apprenticeships, seasonal positions, and roles where I can relocate.

My current workplace is also supporting additional professional development and is planning to have me complete the University of the Pacific animal behavior/professional program, with the goal of fast-tracking me toward more behavior-team involvement at work. I’d love advice on how to use that opportunity strategically while still working toward zoo animal care.

A few specific questions:

- What would you recommend I focus on next while applying?

- Are there particular volunteer roles, certifications, or hands-on skills that would make me more competitive?

- How can I better show that shelter, sanctuary, and farm animal experience can transfer into zoo husbandry?

- How valuable is behavior experience when applying for keeper roles?

- Are there any red flags I should avoid as a career-changing applicant?

- For those who broke into the field without the traditional zoo internship path, what helped you get your first keeper job?

I’d really appreciate honest advice. I’m serious about doing this the right way and continuing to build the skills, humility, consistency, and practical experience this field requires.

Hi everyone. I hope this question is okay, if not that's totally fine.

What are your favorite animal to work with and which area/animal are you currently working with. Ex favorite animal penguin but works with rhinos.

I don't work in a zoo, but if I did, I would like to work with: 1. giraffes. 2. zebras. 3. red pandas.

F21 starting an internship soon in florida but have no idea where to shop for shorts! I like the ones with a lot of pockets on them. I’m having a hard time finding convenient and appropriate work shorts (most I find are not fingertip length). Nervous to order on amazon in case they don’t fit since a lot of stuff I’ve found in amazon sounds too big according to the size charts

Thanks in advance!

I got invited to speak by a friend to her first grade class about their unit on conservation and how scientists use facts/emotions to persuade an audience to protect animals. I will be speaking for an hour and plan to dedicate roughly 45 minutes to speaking and asking interactive questions and leaving the last 15 minutes for questions and a sort of show and tell with some cool objects (jaguar painting, cast of a paw print, whisker etc).

I already have a rough outline but I just wanted to reach out to see if anyone has fun ideas or inspo for anything fun I can include. I am a newby zookeeper, only 4 months into my first paid position, but I have about 3 years of experience between internships and volunteering at zoos/sanctuaries.

I have never given a formal keeper talk but I will often be doing an animal feeding or something or the sort and come up with a mini speech about our animal and answer any questions people have. I loooove the educational aspect of my job and always wanted to do a chat of some sort to a class or just the general public and now I have the opportunity and want to make it as informative and age-appropriate as possible! I am pretty nervous only bc idk how to fill 45 minutes of talking since I tend to talk fast so the more info the include the better!

TIA

Got pulled into an all staff meeting today because apparently there’s a lot of bomb threats being sent to zoos right now. We had to go over our emergency evacuation plans for active shooter / bomb threats. Crazy. Anyone else hear about this or have one sent to your zoo?

This is probably a dumb question, but how do you become experts in the care of your animals? Was it through schooling? Learning through experience? Self-teaching? Or all of the above?

I’m about halfway through college and working towards becoming a zookeeper. I’m realizing I that I know nothing about how to care for the animals I want to work with. Should I start researching now or will I learn it on the job?

Hi. I'm posting this because I want some guidance for my career. I recently had to turn down an offer for a dream position for the summer because I am unable to relocate at the moment (It's a long story, but I could afford to relocate at the time of applying, then I had some financial stuff buzz up, hard to show to employers yadayada). I have opportunities that have appeared elsewhere, but I'm a little bummed that it may be hard for me to make my way back into the zoo field. Has anyone else experienced something similar, having to turn down an offer? Are most facilities understanding of these sorts of circumstances? I ask because I will likely apply to this facility again, either before or after I finish school, and I don't want to not be considered because it didn't work out for me one time. Any sort of advice/stories appreciated. Thanks!

hi, i just wanted to rant about smth that happened and honestly also looking for advice.
basically, during my zookeeper internship, i received a lot of sexual comments from a senior zookeeper who was also my internship coordinator. he made me very uncomfortable and he told me not to tell anyone. but after a while, i couldnt keep it to myself anymore and told someone in the team i trusted about the whole situation. he didnt know i told someone and the whole team was very happy with me and offered me a position after i finish my internship. now, a few months later, HR and the Zoology manager know about the situation and wanted to talk to me about it. i explained his sexual misconduct towards me and about how i feel like thats why all of a sudden im not getting accepted to any of the zookeeping positions i applied to.
zoology manager ended up telling me she doesnt want me to work in the zookeeping team because i might cause uneasiness in the workplace. even though all i did was tell them that he made me very uncomfy with his sexual comments. is this a fair thing for them to say? what do i do?

Hello! I recently started my first position as a keeper. I had a plethora of animal care experience before this, but nothing in a zoo setting or taking care of such an array of animals in such a capacity. I have only been here a few weeks but I’m struggling with the anxiety of messing up. I know I need to allow myself to learn, and that learning involves making small mistakes here and there. No one on my team is expecting me to remember everything immediately, there is no timeline for my training to be done. They are all incredible and patient. I just feel like I go through each day feeling like I should be remembering more things, or feeling bad when I have to ask questions multiple times, stressing about messing up diet prep etc. In theory I know my anxieties are unjustified. Just looking for some advice or perhaps solidarity on this feeling going away.

Do any of you use permethrin treated clothing working around big cats? What I have read says it’s when wet that it poses the highest risk to felines and it should be okay once dried. I am obviously never actually coming into physical contact with the cats, just worried about being in their enclosures and cleaning with my treated clothes on. I’m outside all day in an area that has super large populations of ticks and high incidence of tick borne diseases so I’d like to treat my pants, shoes, socks, etc. already have found a bunch of deer ticks on me so far this season and it’s taking a toll on my mental health lol

hey everyone, sorry if this is a dumb question but i’m trying to apply for the north american internship at the cincy zoo for the fall but for some reason i don’t see an application link for it anymore? applications are supposed to be open may-june so does anyone know how to apply for that?

I’m also trying to apply for the Night Hunters exhibit and there’s no link to apply but when i go to the application submission thing it IS listed as one of the options so that also has me a bit confused. thank you!

Hey y’all! I’m looking to get my degree online but am running into the issue of needing to be in person for the programs. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good program fully online? Bonus points if it’s just for an associates (school is not my strong suit) due to my husband’s job I can’t just get up and move and non of the colleges near me offer zoo keeping degrees.

Hi everyone! I’m looking for advice from keepers, horticulturists, and anyone with experience managing browse or exhibit plants for pygmy hippos or other large browsing mammals.

I’ve been talking with a local Michigan zoo about donating plants for their pygmy hippo enclosure, which is currently very bare aside from a concrete pool. I’m not affiliated with the zoo—just a visitor who loves these animals and wants to support their wellbeing in a meaningful way.

The head keeper suggested options like hibiscus, non‑toxic grasses or ferns, sweet potato vine, bamboo (non‑invasive, cold‑hardy species), or potted tropicals that can be moved indoors for winter. I’ve had trouble finding mature bamboo this late in the season and am on waitlists for next year.

Because the zoo is in Michigan (Zone 5–6), I’m specifically looking for plants that meet all three criteria:

• Safe / non‑toxic for pygmy hippos
• Able to survive Michigan winters outdoors
• Tolerant of consistently wet or damp soil

I’d love to hear from anyone who has managed hippo habitats, wetland exhibits, or browse programs. What shrubs, trees, or perennials have worked well for you? What should I avoid? Any toxicity lists or horticulture resources your facility relies on would also be helpful.

I’m also hoping to confirm whether these plants meet the criteria above:

• Pennsylvania Sedge (Carex pensylvanica)
• Miscanthus ‘Gracillimus’
• Musa ‘Basjoo’ (cold‑hardy banana)
• Hibiscus Summerific ‘All Eyes on Me’
• Majesty Palm
• Sweet Potato Vine (Ipomoea)

Thanks in advance for any guidance or experience you can share!!

Hi everyone. I know this may seem to be in the wrong subreddit, but please bear with me.

I am currently planning to apply for a PhD in ecology and have been brainstorming some research directions. I’m interested in studying carnivore behavior comparatively in zoo and wild settings (same 1 species across both contexts) to understand how behavior changes under ecological and anthropogenic factors. My background is more ecology-based, but I do have experience in both in situ and ex situ settings: my undergrad research was on landscape ecology of a related species, and I have prior experience volunteering at a US zoo and several sanctuaries abroad. My bachelor's degree is in biology with a minor in cognitive science.

The challenge I’m running into is that most grad programs seem to fall into one of two areas: programs that focus on work with wildlife in in situ systems, or programs that are more focused on work with captive animals in ex situ systems. I firmly believe that good conservation requires integrating both perspectives, but I’m having trouble figuring out how people bridge these two worlds in practice within a PhD structure.

If you work at a zoo, are a researcher, or collaborate with researchers:

• Have you ever seen grad students conducting research with zoos?
  • What kinds of programs or institutions have you seen researchers doing zoo-based behavioral studies come from?
  • Are there labs or people that you know to doing comparative behavioral ecology in both wild and zoo settings?
  • Is it very difficult to obtain access/permissions to study at a zoo as a grad student? What does that process usually look like?

Any general advice on programs, labs/advisors, or general pathways into this kind of work would also be really helpful. Thank you!

I’m waiting to hear back from an interviewer to see if I’ll be coming out to do a keeper working interview. Does anyone have any experience with working interviews and know how they go or have any tips? I have a couple years of experience in a zoo but haven’t done a working interview before. Thanks!

the scenario is you are a new primate keeper and the animal you are responsible for is an obviously over weight ape. The established keeper has provided information on the diet for the animal but then says that he slips the ape additional grapes and bananas as treats and these treat are not recorded. As a new keeper in primates how do you maintain the health of the animal (reduce his weight) and yet address the treats the experienced keeper is giving an obviously overweight animal? can a new keeper have a voice in the diet of the animal without alienating an experienced keeper? do you address your concern of the animals weight with the primate or mammal curator or the vet staff?

pretty straightforward but what do night shift keepers do exactly? a local zoo has a night keeper position open and i was looking into it. the description they have posted is pretty much the exact same as a day shift keeper for the same department. so i guess i just want to insight into what would be expected of me because i know there’s little to no guest involvement and nothing like setting up exhibits/enclosures for guests to see🤷🏻‍♀️

If I take videos of an animal while cleaning their outdoor enclosure can i post it? Not a zookeeper but plan to be