My family always makes the point to me that working at a zoo doesn't pay as much as a lot of other jobs, but it's what I've wanted to do for as long as I can remember.
Who Wants To Work With Animals?
- Thread starter Valentinoamor
- Start date
@Fignewton et al: The future progress of your education, your skills, outlook on life as well as personal and external circumstances (dooming economic crisis?) will most likely change your perspective on that. You'd be a fool to underprize your qualification.
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Go green
(I currently attend MSU)My major is oriented towards Fisheries/Wildlife but I’m still trying to figure out what to do
I would want to work with birds, especially penguins and flamingos. I'm eyeing an internship at the Saginaw Children's Zoo once I'm old enough, though from what I've heard it's mostly with the goats and kangaroos I like them too!
Never hurts to have a spouse that has a job that doesn't involve animals. I need to find myself a doctor.
That's why I think owning my own educational business will have better benefits than working at a zoo. I'll be able to be with my animals constantly, but I can also obtain a non-profit status so people can donate money without it being taxed. They can also do adoption programs and other things to help pay for the animals. (Plus, if the animals are at my home, I may be able to get taxes reduced due to it being my "business facility.") I'll also be able to choose my own pay as well.
The animals will always come before me, but I wouldn't mind being able to be financially comfortable as well.
If money is the issue you could work in the pet trade breeding and selling fish/herps, working to establish lines of rarer animals. Some endangered species (chinchilla, axolotl, red-tailed black “shark,” Asian arowana) are common today and available as pets thanks to private breeders. I thought about doing this, but then I decided it would be easier to partner up with a conservation organization with established legitimacy. However, most of those are against profiting off of selling animals.
That said, I do think hobbyists can help tackle the sixth mass extinction if they reared more threatened small animals (reptiles, amphibians, fish insects).
That said, I do think hobbyists can help tackle the sixth mass extinction if they reared more threatened small animals (reptiles, amphibians, fish insects).
I think every ZooChatter want to work with animals
Privately owned pet shops are slowly dying out due to competition with large international commercial chains and online pet services.
As you're always quick handing out advice: what do you do for a living, @RatioTile?
I've learned two things about working with animals: you can get rich or at least wealthy by exploiting animals. Those not exploiting animals usually don't get rich.
This might not worry the younger, still very idealistic among you, but the older you get, the more you'll discover that you can't live on love alone.
So if you strive for or are used to a certain standard of living, you might consider entering a more profitable profession and working with animals in your spare time.
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Given that women still tend to choose partners of similar or higher financial and social standing, good luck finding and keeping your Dr. Sugar Momma.
Relying on someone else's money is quite the risky business strategy. And not that good for one's self-esteem on the long run.
There were times when I have seen open positions in local zoos that might suit my backround/education (all office jobs) but I´ve never decided to send a CV due to criminally low remuneration offered. Maybe, if I had not several people relying on my paycheck...
@Batto I’m fresh out of grad school. I decided I didn’t want to do academia and started a job search with conservation and environmental groups, and maybe National Geographic and the Discovery Channel. In the meantime I’ve been writing tour books for zoos and aquariums in Asia, featuring my wildlife photography.
I know fish farms in Taiwan that breed and have made a lot of money off of seahorses and Victorian cichlids, so I know it’s possible to get rich working with animals. The massive aquarium fish farms in Indonesia are even more successful. There’s also groups like Aquarium Glaser in Germany that import fish. As for reptiles there’s BHB and NERD in the US (although controversial).
What do you do for a living?
I know fish farms in Taiwan that breed and have made a lot of money off of seahorses and Victorian cichlids, so I know it’s possible to get rich working with animals. The massive aquarium fish farms in Indonesia are even more successful. There’s also groups like Aquarium Glaser in Germany that import fish. As for reptiles there’s BHB and NERD in the US (although controversial).
What do you do for a living?
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I think this discussion would deserve a separate thread. But based on my very limited understanding of Czech ornamental fish farming (around year 2010 it was with 20 mio USD in annual exports the largest one within Europe, and i have few friends/colleagues who tried to dab fingers in it), I woudn´t want a career in it. If you want to earn more than just peanuts, you would need to be a trader, thus you need contacts, bussiness oriented mind, talent in bending rules and large degree of ruthlessness to survive. Most fish farmers are doing it rather as a second job on evening alongside their full day job. Owners of larger fish farms are the whole time just one step away from bancrupcy and when they employ people, they pay them peanuts.
I don´t think there is much oportunity for you being based within the US with its high wages and utility costs. You can´t outcompete SA Asia in farming. And you can´t outcompete large pet chains in distribution and retail.
You're not going to see many people in the herp hobby breeding for the well-being of endangered species in the wild. Most of them breed common species (ball pythons, bearded dragons, leopard geckos, etc.) due to the fact that they know they'll sell out. Other species are taken from the wild or farms but are sold at extremely cheap prices. Breeding endangered species, or trying to breed species so they aren't taken from the wild, can cost a lot of money and take up a lot of time. This tends to raise the price of the individuals they sell. The "common herp owner" doesn't want to have to spend a ton of money on an animal, so they go and buy overbred species or wild-caught animals. The people breeding the endangered/uncommon species could sell them for a cheaper price, but they'd lose out on money, which is why more people don't do it.
Given that women still tend to choose partners of similar or higher financial and social standing, good luck finding and keeping your Dr. Sugar Momma.
Good thing I'm not into women. LMAO. I might have to work two jobs for a while, doing programs in my spare time.
Thanks; that makes it easier to classify the substance of your posts.
Take another look at my most popular thread to find the answer.
Jana is spot-on in her evaluation of the real economic feasibility of commercial ornamental fish breeding. And it isn't any different with reptiles.
Well, thanks for sharing that detail. Depending on a sugar daddy isn't any better.
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Working with animals seems like the ultimate dream for any animal-lover. However, as previously mentioned, the income it produces isn't substantial in many cases. This obviously depends on what job it is, and in what country you are. Unfortunately, there aren't many of the jobs anywhere and I belive it's probably getting fewer. As technology advances, there wouln't be a need for as many workers. Even though it is more substantial in other industries, it will affect zoos as well. In addition, the number of animal facilities will probably decrease. Animal welfare standards are rising in much of the world, and many zoos will not be able to afford the changes demanded by the public. When thinking about what job to choose, you have to remember that some jobs are less secure than others. If you want to work with animals, that's awesome. However, I would recommend you getting an education which also make you qualified to work outside the zoo and pet industry, if the zoos are no longer around.
HorseChild
Active Member
I've been working as a full-time zookeeper for over five years. Currently work with hoofstock, but I've also worked with carnivores and primates. To those of you going to school or thinking of going in to the field: don't underestimate the reality of low pay. I have been able to make it work, and I am very privileged to have parents who supported me during my unpaid internships, but it is very, very hard. I have found it to be very much worth it because of the value that I find in my job, but the reality is that it may have to change when I want to have a family. I hope not, but it could very likely be the case.
HorseChild
Active Member
If you want to work with primates, or at any zoo, be open to moving in order to get relevant experience. I've seen people wait for a job to open at just one zoo, and they either wait years (up to almost a decade), or never get into that zoo. Management also tends to look favorably on you as a zoo candidate if you have experience at other facilities and with multiple different species/taxa.
I currently work with animals, mainly domesticated and livestock as well but to a lesser degree. I work as an veterinary assistant, have close to a decade of experience in the veterinary field. Trained in surgery prep, running of diagnostics, restraining, monitoring patients while under anesthesia with DVM and/RVT present, treating in-house patients, and prepping patients for discharge as well. Have seen and treated some exotics like reptiles or birds, both private owners or rehabilitations. I want to one day hopefully work in the zoo field and have met colleagues both as DVMs and RVTs who’ve had worked at the So Cal zoos such as LA Zoo and San Diego Zoo Global. I have heard it can be very competitive as you mentioned to work in a zoo as a zookeeper, I would just love to work with animals in a zoological setting in almost any extent, even if I was the meal prep person which I love food myself
HorseChild
Active Member
I currently work with animals, mainly domesticated and livestock as well but to a lesser degree. I work as an veterinary assistant, have close to a decade of experience in the veterinary field. Trained in surgery prep, running of diagnostics, restraining, monitoring patients while under anesthesia with DVM and/RVT present, treating in-house patients, and prepping patients for discharge as well. Have seen and treated some exotics like reptiles or birds, both private owners or rehabilitations. I want to one day hopefully work in the zoo field and have met colleagues both as DVMs and RVTs who’ve had worked at the So Cal zoos such as LA Zoo and San Diego Zoo Global. I have heard it can be very competitive as you mentioned to work in a zoo as a zookeeper, I would just love to work with animals in a zoological setting in almost any extent, even if I was the meal prep person which I love food myself
We need good vet techs in the field. The ones I have worked with are amazing. I hope you can get in!
My education and work history are way more geared towards management of wild populations than zoos, but the idea of working in the latter environment has been a fun dream since I was a kid. Off the top of my head:
I spent a year on a project that was monitoring red-winged blackbirds, and by extension a small local population of endangered tricolored blackbirds. Mainly assessing population density, resource use between marshland and neighboring dairies (they REALLY love the free grain), and interspecific competition observed in mixed flocks that also included brewer's blackbirds, brown-headed cowbirds, European starlings, etc. etc.
Spent three field seasons with the University of California as an agricultural tech, and bounced around several projects in the process. This is where I got a lot of my entomology experience, as pest + pollinator surveys are a constant need during the spring/summer growing season, and I spent a lot of hours camped out in the entomology field lab ID'ing insects from field sweeps. We did some trials regarding invasive plant removal and crop pathology, mainly in black-eyed peas, which was something fun and different. Last but not least (and funnily enough the most "prestigious") was a study that took up the entirety of my final season, involving management of spider mite populations in silage corn crops using chemical control in tandem with predatory mites.
The better part of two years while I was still in school, I did informal bird guiding that earned a bit of money - and birding was what I would have been doing on the weekends anyway. I lived in the midst of a Pacific Flyway hotspot and had been birding the region for a few years at that point, so when a friend of a friend would show up during migration season I generally knew where to go for local rarities and chased a few vagrant species.
My health has been on-and-off crap for the past few years, and so a lot of the wildlife biology jobs that feature remote field sites, or last only a season and require a move (aka many of them) unfortunately don't work for me, so I've pivoted to a mix of agricultural entomology and science education, which worked out pretty well. The current world pandemic situation hasn't been fantastic in regard to any of that, haha, but what can you do
I spent a year on a project that was monitoring red-winged blackbirds, and by extension a small local population of endangered tricolored blackbirds. Mainly assessing population density, resource use between marshland and neighboring dairies (they REALLY love the free grain), and interspecific competition observed in mixed flocks that also included brewer's blackbirds, brown-headed cowbirds, European starlings, etc. etc.
Spent three field seasons with the University of California as an agricultural tech, and bounced around several projects in the process. This is where I got a lot of my entomology experience, as pest + pollinator surveys are a constant need during the spring/summer growing season, and I spent a lot of hours camped out in the entomology field lab ID'ing insects from field sweeps. We did some trials regarding invasive plant removal and crop pathology, mainly in black-eyed peas, which was something fun and different. Last but not least (and funnily enough the most "prestigious") was a study that took up the entirety of my final season, involving management of spider mite populations in silage corn crops using chemical control in tandem with predatory mites.
The better part of two years while I was still in school, I did informal bird guiding that earned a bit of money - and birding was what I would have been doing on the weekends anyway. I lived in the midst of a Pacific Flyway hotspot and had been birding the region for a few years at that point, so when a friend of a friend would show up during migration season I generally knew where to go for local rarities and chased a few vagrant species.
My health has been on-and-off crap for the past few years, and so a lot of the wildlife biology jobs that feature remote field sites, or last only a season and require a move (aka many of them) unfortunately don't work for me, so I've pivoted to a mix of agricultural entomology and science education, which worked out pretty well. The current world pandemic situation hasn't been fantastic in regard to any of that, haha, but what can you do
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