Status of Zookeeping

[MRJ]

Way back when in Australia zookeepers used to be regarded as a species of agriculture worker, as they spent their time shoveling manure and chopping vegetables. Their pay and conditions were based on this, and no doubt the prestige of the job reflected this also. About 40 years ago the prestige of zookeeping started to improve dramatically. Keepers still receive modest pay, shovel plenty of manure and chop plenty of vegetables. But today zoo keeping is a highly desired even prestigious job, so much so that even voluntary positions are extremely difficult to get. The result is in my experience the average zookeeper in Australia is professional, dedicated and hardworking. That is certainly the case in our workplace and seems to be reflected elsewhere.

A while back I was talking to a colleague, and he explained he got his start in zoos by working at one of the better zoos in Asia. He said that zookeeping was not so well regarded in Asia, and that it was quite easy for him to get employment there as zookeeping is regarded as just another job. Just the other day I was talking to another colleague, and we discussed if this was one of the reasons why zoos in Australia were generally of the standard they are. We also wondered what the status of zookeepers was in North America and Europe, and if they had the same demand and prestige as in Australia.

So I thought I would ask Zoochatters what their thoughts are. Is zookeeping a desirable and sort after job in Europe and North America? Does the attitude towards zookeeping change in different parts of Europe?

 

[TheMightyOrca]

For animal lovers, I think it is a pretty desirable job. Don't know if I'd call is prestigious, but certainly desirable.

 

[Pertinax]

Its certainly true in Europe too that Zookeeping used to be regarded as being on a very similar scale as Agricultural work, but the 'kudos' and 'interest' levels of the job are much higher. I think a lot of people have always wanted to work in Zoos for that reason, despite much of the daily work being, of necessity, both routine and mundane.. Nowadays many keepers are well, or even over-qualified with degrees etc but a lot of the daily work undertaken must still be tantamount to unskilled labour- cleaning enclosures, preparing food etc so I presume there has been no major sea change in the pay scales which reflect that type of work.

 

[wensleydale]

I can't speak for Americans in general because I really don't know, but where I grew up zookeeping is a very highly regarded job (albeit one regarded as having extremely low pay, I don't know what zookeeper pay is). If you were a zookeeper or even got to work on a farm you were considered lucky.