Working at a zoo

TheMightyOrca

TheMightyOrca

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
So, I'm curious, how many people here have worked at a zoo before? I ask because I'm about to apply for an exhibit interpreter job at the San Antonio Zoo. I've applied before, didn't get called for it, so I'm trying again. Gonna play up my love for animals some more, how I can learn quickly and stuff. I probably won't write "I'M GONNA EDUCATE THE HELL OUT OF THESE LOSERS, OR DIE TRYING". I probably won't apply for food service or retail jobs, even though I have the experience. I'm just tired of cleaning. And I really want a job where I can talk about animals without annoying people.

What kinds of jobs/positions did you have? What was it like?
 
I have worked at two zoos for a total of 15 years. I sometimes worked with Interpreters and docents, sometimes training them. With the job you are applying for remember: it is not about the animals. It is about the people. It is not about how smart you are. It is about being able to engage the visitors. Focus on them and you'll be fine
 
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I've worked 10 years at 3 different zoos and indeed a lot of cleaning ! But also prepering the food, hand-raising babies, an awfull lot of special observations and so on and so on !
 
In the job you will apply for I would focus on the experience you have with engaging people and bringing the topic (animals, conservation etc) close to them. If you have experience with presentation and facilitation I would bring that up as well.
 
Thanks for the tips! I don't mind cleaning too much, I think I'm just tired of restaurant environments. I actually did look at the groundskeeper job, (I want to walk around the zoo) but apparently you need experience with a floor buffer.
 
TheMightyOrca said:
So, I'm curious, how many people here have worked at a zoo before? I ask because I'm about to apply for an exhibit interpreter job at the San Antonio Zoo. I've applied before, didn't get called for it, so I'm trying again. Gonna play up my love for animals some more, how I can learn quickly and stuff. I probably won't write "I'M GONNA EDUCATE THE HELL OUT OF THESE LOSERS, OR DIE TRYING". I probably won't apply for food service or retail jobs, even though I have the experience. I'm just tired of cleaning. And I really want a job where I can talk about animals without annoying people.

What kinds of jobs/positions did you have? What was it like?
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Not as someone who’s worked at a zoo, but someone who wants to. I’m in my final year of secondary school and I’m curious as to what university/college programs I should apply to in order to best suit such desires?
 
I don't know what the situation is in Canada however, my college offered courses that were not the traditional routes like English, Mathematics etc. They offered ones that equated to the same qualifications as traditional ones like Animal Management & Animal Care & Husbandry. University thankfully no matter where you may be will have zoology courses available and some allow you to take it as well as a desired path such as ornithology, conservation etc

I hope this has helped somewhat :)
 
As someone who might want to work at a zoo in the future, I was wondering if, when reaching out to a zoo, there is an ideal email address to contact them by in order to gain extra information? From what I’m seeing on some zoo websites, there are numerous different email addresses, and didn’t want to email one which wasn’t appropriate for my desired message to go to.
 
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