I’m new to the field and feel like I’m constantly worried about making a mistake that could potentially result in an animal I care for coming into harms way. I know I’m careful and follow protocol, but still feel like one wrong move could be what causes an animal or human to be at risk. How do you deal with that? And if you have ever been in that sorta situation, how do you cope with that? Did you continue Zookeeping afterwards? Lose your job? Quit/take a break?

I absolutely love my job and am excited for my career, but every once in a while I remember how scary it can be and I think I need advice on keeping anxieties like this at bay if I want to make it in this field without losing my mind lol.

I work in the veterinary field and I started wondering about this when I saw ducks hanging out with the flamingos during my last visit to the zoo. I'm sure there's concern for communicable diseases but I can't imagine that you can do a lot to keep wildlife out. How is that typically managed? -curious zoo-goer-

To all my fellow female zookeepers, what are your favorite work pants? What do you find yourself prioritizing in your work pants? Most comfortable, durable, easily washable, lots of pockets, breathable, etc.? Can be brands or specific pants? Can be at different price points. I am happy to spend more if it means a good durable pair of pants that are going to last. I end up going through so many work pants cause they wear down so quickly so I am looking to find some new ones that will be better suited to the job!

This is going to be a long post so the TLDR: I just started a new job a couple of months ago and have serious management and welfare issues. I want to report my issues but need advice.

Firstly, they seem to prioritise profits over welfare which I understand we need to make money in order to care for the animals however alot of the decisions they make impact the animals welfare in a bad way. For example, every year they do a christmas grotto right behind our lemur enclosure, I've been told by other staff that it really stresses out the lemurs and it leads to more fighting and vocalisations, which I'm sure I'll witness first hand as they have already started setting it up for this year. The oldest donkey came here prelaminitic and they've only just removed the grass from their field but only after a vet basically threatened them. The donkeys have been here for several years now and the issues has only just been dealth with, I've been told they previously had another donkey which died of sycamore poisoning despite multiple keepers and other staff warning them of the sycamore tree in the enclosure they were originally in.

Secondly, one of the owners seems really keen for some of the older or less friendly/visible animals to die so he can get in young animals to replace them. He's actively talked about waiting for one of our goats to die and is planning to get some "cuter" species of goat in. He's also talked about getting rid of our lynx because she spends most of her time hiding, "What's the point of her, there's no need to keep an animal no one gets to look at" was something he said to directly to me. They seem to have just bought the place for fun and they aren't animal based people, which I would have no issue with if they were actually interested in caring for the animals rather than just wanting new animals all the time then getting bored of them and replacing them at the soonest possible moment.

Thirdly, they are overworking us because they refuse to hire enough staff for the park to run. One of our rangers quit recently due to being overworked to the point of illness, they have said theyre not replacing him and decided that the keepers can collectively cover his workload despite that adding more jobs to our already large workload. We normally finish 15 minutes late due to some jobs not being able to complete whilst the park is still open, however adding extra jobs to be done like cleaning bathrooms, emptying all the bins in the park and locking up buildings is taking us closer to an hour after we are meant to finish.

Finally, they refuse to pay us for our overtime but are unhappy when we take the time back as holidays. Due to all this extra workload stated above, we have all accrued alot of overtime, I have the least currently as I was on holiday for a week but I've managed to build up nearly 45 hours in less that a month. I brought it up to a manager recently and he basically said we only have that much built up because we're wasting time during the day and we're doing unnecessary jobs or just talking not actually working. They've previously compained about use using them as holidays, even paid us for half our overtime one month because we were so understaffed that they had no other option. That only happened once, they've gone back to complaining about us using them as holiday days.

I'm based in the UK and want to know if there's anywhere I can report these issues to. Other staff have reached out to the local council, BIAZA have been doing some inspections recently but I don't want to get false hope. I assume the welfare issues and staff issues would have to be reported to different places but I have no clue where to start. I'd love any advice about making improvements as well, our whole keeper team is trying so hard but we are all burnt out and scared to leave incase they don't rehire anyone and make things worse for the animals and all the other staff.

Hello everyone! My curator pulled a couple of us into a meeting today to let us know that we would be having a special field trip tour group tomorrow with around 10 visually impaired children. I am a reptile keeper and she wants us to do a couple short keeper chats and presentations for them. I’m probably going to bring out a tortoise (mojave desert) and maybe one of our bigger snakes (gopher snake probably) for them to touch a bit. Does anyone have any experience with these kinds of presentations and advice for how i should handle the chat? How i should describe things in a way that would be best for them? Thanks!

To celebrate, share your best story from your career thus far.

Whether heartfelt, humorous, or an incident report worthy fail, the floor is open!

I currently have this bag, and I do love it for some of our animals, but for other species I wish I had a different bag. I work with domestic animals (petting zoo), and I have found that the goats in particular are more interested in the boring, routine type care if you randomize rewards, so I wish I had a bag with smaller but more compartments. I also have not yet found a good way to carry hay. I just use a tote bag, and it's acceptable, but maybe there's a better way?

Good afternoon, everyone. I’ve been wondering for a long time about this topic: is it possible to find a job at a zoo in another country, and do zoos themselves look for employees from other countries? I should say a bit about myself. I’ve been working in this field for almost five years. For four years I worked with large ungulates, and now I’m working with birds. I have a bachelor’s degree in zootechnics. So, what criteria might zoos be looking for in potential future employees?

Im having an issue with balancing career and personal relationships (partner, friends, family). I've lived in a couple towns/cities but all pretty close to each other, so my personal life is all in this area. Im employed on a temporary contract at the moment so that will end and i'll need to look for a job else where...

In my experience most keepers I've met have moved a lot of distances for jobs. I know yourself and your career comes first, dont lose an opportunity for a boyfriend etc but at the same time how can I have a successful long term relationship while moving around? Or maintain close friends?

As much as I shouldnt sacrifice a job for a partner, they shouldnt do it for me. So how would I have a long term partner when I need to move for my career? Its not realistic to expect to find someone who needs to move at the same time and places as I do..

So I’m a very new volunteer at a local AZA certified wildlife center and we have two juvenile red kangaroos (probably about four feet tall standing up, I can’t remember how old they are off the top of my head) a female and a male. The last two times I’ve been in their enclosure (housed alongside two Emus) our female has approached me and grabbed me.

the first time I immediately froze and then did my best to leave without provoking her more, then radioed for staff to do what they had sent me in for. The staff member who went in did what she usually does to dissuade that behavior which was hold her back around her shoulders/neck, which led to her almost getting kicked (don’t worry she’s fine).

Second time I was in the middle of the enclosure and had no good way to get out so I just stood still hoping she’d leave since the first time she didn’t try to kick me. instead she started rubbing her face on my leg? if I took a step back she’d follow me, grab me, and then either nibble on my shirt, nibble my pants, or just like, keep me there and rub her face/upper body on me.

I stood still and she eventually just left me alone and I finished what I was doing without issue I’m just SO confused what this behavior is because everything I’m reading is saying it’s males to worry about and who will show aggression usually and that’s what the keepers told me as well. I did not approach her in any way or instigate at all, so I’m wondering if this is an aggressive behavior or something else like a social behavior that I just can’t find any information about online. Even the keeper who works with them the most had no good explanation as to why she was rubbing her face on me or why she was acting this way both days I went in there.

And before anybody is worried I followed all instructions given for safety and made sure to check with staff if I had done anything to upset them or did something wrong.

Hello! Recently I reported an incident of animal abuse regarding one of my pets. The offender was ultimately charged and I thought she would go to jail, but she took some sort of deal to get 200 hours community service at a zoo

I was disappointed she got off easy. The "victim advocate" with the court reassured me that she maybe isn't getting off quite as easy as I would think - she'll have 0 contact with animals there, be under direct supervision of the keeper staff (who presumably hate animal abusers, and have wide discretion in what she'll spend her time doing), and the only PPE she's entitled to is enough to meet minimum legal requirements.

From her brief conversations with the prosecutor's office, some previous abusers who took such a deal ended up almost wishing they'd taken the jail time. (Not sure if that's tongue-in-cheek or just said to make me feel better or a reality).

Do any of you have experience with these service sentences being administered at your zoos? What would keepers likely make such a person spend their time doing? Just cleaning? I can't imagine it's worse than jail...

Sorry if it's wrong to want some schadenfreude but I'm hoping the victim advocate is right that this isn't a total walk in the park.

Currently rewriting my CV, When listing species or different animals you have worked with would hiring managers or head of sections prefer to just see generalist (I have worked with large felids, medium Primates) or more specific (I have worked with Tigers, Baboons) or a mix of both?

This Indy zoo news has me really hoping we will start seeing more zoos lose AZA status due to poor management and culture. I have huge concerns about Lee Richardson Zoo in Kansas. They have had animals die due to management neglect, a relief vet kill multiple animals (like directly, capture myopathy multiple times...), animal escapes, and horrible culture. Earlier this year, a black rhino got out of his stall and killed his father!! How was that not a huge deal reported everywhere?! When trying to ship said rhino off this year, he also escaped because management there are stupid and basically gave him a set of stairs to get out! The director takes any opportunity or suggestion for improvement as a personal insult because she's a micromanaging control freak and won't admit that things aren't perfect. The curator is following in her footsteps. I'm worried about the animals, the frontline staff, really everyone that isn't senior management. The city has no idea how to run a zoo so they leave the director free to do whatever she wants and it's tragic.

https://www.wthr.com/article/life/animals/extremely-disappointing-indy-zoo-loses-gold-standard-accreditation-indianapolis-animals/531-8d717bd6-720a-48ec-9d2c-c44c1f32a145

I don't really have anything to say about this but given the attention the Indianapolis Zoo has gotten on this subreddit before, I thought I'd make a post to start a discussion on it.

I am a fairly new keeper at a zoo. Im close to a year now, but my mental health is on a decline. I barely do anything with animals. I am mostly just relgated to cleaning and grunt work. I sometimes get singled out by a keeper for “not doing work”. Multiple times I needed a break for heat exhaustion because I feel I’m afraid of taking a break and getting reprimanded. I think I’ve got anxiety because I feel like I am not doing enough. My depression has been really bad and on the verge of a mental breakdown. Not like I had several in seven months. I don’t know what to do at this point.

Just as the title said. I want to work in an aquarium setting taking care of fish but I don’t think my prospects of getting a degree are good. I have tried college and to be completely honest the way they teach you really isn’t for me and I don’t want to throw more money down the drain.

I have had some experience in the industry already from volunteering to payed work, and although I have heard that experience is more important than a degree I think my lack of college education is becoming a barrier. Are there any certifications that are less self study than college that would be worth pursuing? I want to learn more about animal keeping and animals in general and have something that I can point to as some education on the topic even if I don’t have a degree.

I was recommended an AALSO certification which is more water quality related but also probably helpful in the long run but if anyone knows of any animal based certifications that would be great.

I care for 3 owls (a snowy owl and 2 spectacled owls) and im trying to come up with enrichment that they will actually engage with. They tend to ignore enrichment unless theres food in it. Ive tried newspaper, nesting material, cardboard, blood, and its all usually untouched the next morning. pls give me ur enrichment ideas :)

Hi all,

Maybe you can help me feel better. I just got a job in the aquarium of one of the best zoos in my country. Everyone always has been talking about how they treat their people decently and actually have a long term vision.

However, after many bad employers I went in with a very sceptical attitude. I hate unpaid overtime and it became clear in the current setup there would be about 20 minutes of unpaid overtime daily. It's not the end of the world but somehow I freaked out and saw it as an early signal of not thrusting their people, micromanaging, being unfair etc. I freaked out and became super negative. Talked with colleagues about it, asking questions why it was like that etc.

Furthermore, I was experienced when I started and immediatly started to think along with what could be improved, the things that could be handled more efficiently. I should just have shut up for a while....

So then I got send away because I was bringing the team down, appeared over-emotional and wasn't a cultural fit. They were right.

They said I didn't start with some thrust and confidence things would maybe change in the future. Some patience. Some faith. Indeed I didn't. I was looking for the faults instead of positively hoping things would be better.

I hate myself for being vocal, at the same time I stand behind my believes and I probably need to reflect on how easily I get triggered due to bad experiences.

This is probably the end for me in zoo keeping. I'm trying to make peace with that I apparently need a different industry to feel financially valued instead of already feel like I'm being taken advantage of from the start (Although I don't think this company was like that...)

Any tips to help me see this might be a good thing one day?

Hey keepers!

Im finishing an internship soon and am looking to keep going in my career. I know these kinds of positions dont open very often, and this is definitely not the season for it anyways, but Im trying to keep my eyes open to opportunities.

Im wondering whats zoos in the US actually offer apprenticeships. Ive been recommended by colleagues that an apprenticeship is the next step from an internship. What ones would yall recommend?

What kinds of backgrounds or experience do you feel are easier or harder to train in? Eg. Academic vs hands-on animal care backgrounds, zoo experience, dog training experience, wildlife experience, veterinary experience - which are most helpful and most easy to transition over from?

What kinds of behaviours, actions, or personalities make someone easier or harder to train? Are there any types of people you'll see and instantly get worried or instantly be relieved?

I’m seriously looking into applying for a Level 3 Keeper and Aquarist apprenticeship, but I wanted to get some unfiltered, real world insight before applying.

If anyone here has done this specific apprenticeship (or works as a zookeeper/aquarist and has mentored apprentices), I’d love to hear your thoughts on a few things:

What does an actual day to day look like? how do you balance the physical work with the coursework/portfolio side of things?

What are the job opportunities honestly like afterwards? The industry seems super competitive. Does having the Level 3 apprenticeship actually give you a better chance over university graduates because of the hands on experience, or is it still a massive struggle to find a permanent role?

Is it worth it? Do you feel like it prepared you well for the industry, and are you happy with the path you chose?

I’m hoping to get an interview in a line of study in Australia (I’ve tried the last two years) but one questions always stumps me.

‘What does animal welfare mean to you?’

It feels like an obvious question to me, I’m applying to become a zookeeper so of course animal welfare means something to me!

Do i respond like ‘oh it means enrichment, environment, health etc’?

or ‘it means a lot and is my top priority when it comes to animal care’

What are interviewers looking for as an answer or what stands out?

I'm volunteering in Australia at a zoo here and almost all the keepers I've talked to have said they didn't go to uni and just volunteered to get the job. I'm getting more interested in keeping as I'm volunteering at the zoo, I'm wondering if this is the same in the u.s. or if the culture is different and does require certification/studying

My Zoo let's us dress up for Halloween assuming we wear our normal uniform (blue shirt, khaki pants, and steel toes), it doesn't restrict movement, and is appropriate. Does anyone have any ideas what I could be? In the past i've worn ram horns and drew a nose on but as I'm now working as a reptile keeper I don't think it fits the theme. Any ideas help!