Thoughts on Zoo volunteers

Grant Rhino said:
I’m a volunteer at Werribee Open Range Zoo in Melbourne, Australia.

A lot of what’s been said on this thread pretty much sums it up. My own experience:

The vast majority of questions I get from the general public (95% of questions) are about where the nearest toilet or cafe is, or where does the safari bus leave from etc.

As for my co-volunteers, they all volunteer for different reasons. Some are absolute animal fanatics, others just enjoy volunteering to give something back to the community, some just enjoy being at the zoo, and there are several other reasons for being zoo volunteers.

One thing I’ve noticed where volunteers and Zoochatters differ though, is that Zoochatters are often really interested in the future (ie what species a zoo might be getting soon) whereas the vast majority of volunteers I’ve “worked” with are about the here and now - they are far more interested in what the zoo has now rather than about what the future holds.

All in all, the volunteers at WORZ are a really nice bunch of people - and I’d highly recommend becoming a zoo volunteer at your local zoo - I find it very rewarding.
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I don’t think there are any slots within Zoos Victoria are there?
 
Yes I would say it depends both on the zoo (the type of training they offer to the volunteers) but also on the person (some just have more knowledge than others or know better how to interact with guests)
 
SwampDonkey said:
Be reliable. If you are supposed to be there every week, be there every week and follow protocol to let them know when you can't make it. Being reliable and on time when you are scheduled to be there is a huge part of fulfilling the commitment.

Bring snacks if they allow it, a dozen doughnuts goes a long way to making friends the first few months you are there.

I was a volunteer at ZooTampa for more than a few years in both the aviary and primate departments and about the only question zoo-goers asked was how to get to certain animals and where the closest bathroom was.
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Long time no see! Your advice has helped a lot, i work with goats at the petting zoo and its awesome! Year round volunteer now
 
GeeZee said:
Hi all,

I was in two minds about making this thread and I’ve seen zoo volunteers been discussed here and there on this forum but I seldom see a dedicated thread to them.

I am a zoo volunteer at an AZA accredited zoo and our training program took a hit during Covid. Lukily I came on right after the zoo reopened and my training was somewhat sparse (in large part I was taken on quickly as I worked at a previous zoo) but since then we are required to do training throughout the year often based where we work in the zoo: Animal talks, Bio-Carts, Animal Ambassadors in the key islands of habitats, Conservation, Master Gardners, and special events along with education classes. We also do general training with the different curators yearly and we have safety and basic zoo info (bathrooms, where to go for weather alerts, crowd control) yearly. Also all new volunteers are assigned a mentor from our more experienced volunteers. As part of our training we all have booklets on the collections in each area with animal information (updated three times a year) we are encouraged to carry with us as well we are trained in our new Empathy program for Conservation. I put in about 450 hours a year and a third of that is probably training. I also work in our Animal Health Care Center as an ambassador and we are trained by the Vet staff in how to engage the public.

As we are an AZA accredited Zoo in the US, part of the accreditation they look at how volunteers are used. The key for us if we don't know how to answer a questioned we are expected to say we don't know (no making up answers) and then offer to find out the info for them, where we take their email and sending them answers. I have done this twice and helps to build a good relationship without guests.
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