Leaving the corporate world to join the Zoo

N

nekowl

New Member
Hi guys,

I'm simply disillusioned about the corporate world and have discovered that I'd love to work closely with animals. I'd like to make the move to join a local zoo as a zookeeper or a birdkeeper from where I live.

I'm single and in my late 20s, and ready to take a pay cut. I have no prior professional handling of animals, besides taking care of my pets at home, and feeding stray cats whenever I have the time.

This will be an entirely different field from where I'm from as I'm from the tech industry. What are some of the challenges that I'd face?
 
Getting in will be your biggest challenge, it's a very desirable job. There is a lot of competition for paid work at zoos, there are going to be many more qualified people ahead of you.

Unless you have some kind of connections at a zoo, your best bet is volunteering and looking into education, getting qualifications in animal management/husbandry. Any kind of volunteering with animals will help.
 
A zoo will find you useful for the skills you have but useless for the skils you wish you had. So either stay within your field of experience or get the education and skills you'll need for your next career. There is no easy short cut.
 
I am not sure how it is in Singapore or other parts of Asia. But here in America, what everyone has said is true - it is very competitive. I used to volunteer at a fairly small zoo (but still AZA accredited). Whenever there was an opening for a keeper they would get about one hundred applications from all over the United States. If you did not have a college degree in biology or another science as well as experience with exotic animals, you had zero chance of being considered.
 
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