Why do you want to become a zookeeper?

nanoboy

nanoboy

Well-Known Member
It is not uncommon to see threads popping up asking for advice on becoming a zookeeper.

I am curious about why so many people dream of being a zookeeper, given the manual labour, small salary, and difficulty in breaking in to the field.

Did aspiring zookeepers once dream of becoming vets - like the stereotypical dental hygienist who "couldn't get into (or didn't have the money for) dental school"?

There are so many other facets to a zoo - from groundskeeping to maintenance to retail to marketing to education - so does anyone dream of becoming, say, an 'education officer'?

Or maybe children and teenagers are simply not aware that a zoo needs more than just zookeepers to function?

So why do you/did you want to become a zookeeper?
 
I don't want to be a zookeeper, but i would like to work in a zoo. I'm very interested in becoming a zoo curator because of the many roles it includes outside of the primary care of the animals.

As a child i wanted to be a zookeeper but this was before i knew about breeding programs, animal enrichment and other roles within zoos and conservation.
 
I don't. There are some positions within zoos that I would love to do (though I'm not really on a career trajectory towards any of them). Keeping is not one. Whilst I enjoy animal encounters, the daily maintenance of animals in a zoo setting is not something I envy.
 
Elephant keeping or the police force are the only two jobs i ever seriously considered doing. I met Gigi when i was seven and was then sure thats what i had to do. i still love elephants and that is my long term goal but as you said its a difficult industrt to get in to. I took a job in mynearest zoos education division as a short term stepping stone toward my goal and nearly five years later im still there ( the only job i havent quit after 12 months). I absolutely love what i do. I am mostly an education guide, but its a very varied role. i think its one of the best jobs in the zoo. before i went offline for a bit i had 6 jobs in four sections of the zoo, none of them keeping. its still a goal, i think of it as a privilege to work alongside amazing animals. the pay and the labour are well worth it in my opinion.
 
nanoboy said:
I throw one out from time to time. ;)
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Yes, I am sure you do.

However getting back to the interesting question you originally raised, I think that a part of it is because being a zoo keeper is so different from other jobs, in the vast majority of other jobs people work with other people. In other jobs where people work with animals, it is mainly for farming purposes, with the end result always being the animals death for food. In zoo keeping, there is sometimes a happy ending for the animals, a successful breeding program or a successful release back to the wild for example. Also look at the majority of lower salary jobs that are out there, being a zoo keeper must surely be one of the most attractive out of all of them to most people I would like to think, although it is a lower paid job there is a career path and promotions to gain, so it is not even a job where you have no chance of promotion, like some.

Also, if I was a zoo keeper when in my early 20’s I would have done better with the girls than I did as an ecology student, then a mobile phone sales person.:p
 
nanoboy said:
It is not uncommon to see threads popping up asking for advice on becoming a zookeeper.

I am curious about why so many people dream of being a zookeeper, given the manual labour, small salary, and difficulty in breaking in to the field.

Did aspiring zookeepers once dream of becoming vets - like the stereotypical dental hygienist who "couldn't get into (or didn't have the money for) dental school"?

There are so many other facets to a zoo - from groundskeeping to maintenance to retail to marketing to education - so does anyone dream of becoming, say, an 'education officer'?

Or maybe children and teenagers are simply not aware that a zoo needs more than just zookeepers to function?

So why do you/did you want to become a zookeeper?
Click to expand...

I want to become a zookeeper for a couple reasons. First of all, I completely enjoy working with animals. They are sometimes WAY better than people. Call me an introvert but, I enjoy the quiet time I do share with some of the animals I work with (which are African Hoofstock at this point). Second would be the shear fact of trying to save a endangered animal. The SSP's work is fascinating to me and to be apart of that is a humble experience. Third would be that we are doing a good thing. Caring for animals is a very rewarding experience for me. I enjoy it greatly! :D
 
kelc said:
I don't want to be a zookeeper, but i would like to work in a zoo. I'm very interested in becoming a zoo curator because of the many roles it includes outside of the primary care of the animals.

As a child i wanted to be a zookeeper but this was before i knew about breeding programs, animal enrichment and other roles within zoos and conservation.
Click to expand...
From my experience most of the best Curators,have worked their way up from junior keepers,to the position they are now.
 
I have actually been a volunteer at the Oregon Zoo since October of 2014. I'd love to be a zoo keeper so I could get close up with the very animals I love.
 
I want to be a mammal curator, or a elephant manager.

I would start out as a normal keeper, and make my way up to a elephant keeper. I would be really committed to the zoo, and eventually be a senior keeper and eventually a elephant manager, or maybe a pachyderm curator if it was at a big zoo with lots of rhinos and hippos also, since those are my favorite kinds of animals.

Elephants would be optimal, for so many reasons

1. They are my favorite animals (yes, I am a zoochatter and my favorite animals aren't obscure)

2. They are really really smart

3. I think they are paid more than any other zoo jobs since they have the most intense labor (can anyone tell me if thats true?).

Theres only one downside- safety. Apparently elephant keeping is still dangerous with protected contact. Can anyone second that? I am not 100% sure if it is right, but theres probably always some risk.
 
I really want to become a zoo biologist.
I understand why people want to become a zookeeper, since I am a volunteer zookeeper myself.
The work had many downsides (like low salary, and since I am a volunteer I earn nothing :D)
but working with animals makes it all worth it.

@ ZooElephantsMan, from my own experience I know working with camels is already
dangerous, let alone elephants
 
Well, camels can bite with protected contact,
so I can image an elephant's trunk is dangerous too.
But since I've no experience with elephants I'm not sure about it.
 
I saw a video once of a angry camel who bit a persons head and didn't let go and the head was inside the camels mouth and the camel picked him up and threw him against the wall. It was so funny. Once I was riding a camel and it kept on whipping me with its tail. I think it was intentional but idk.
 
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