Zoo work or want?

[ANACONDASAURUS]

Does anyone here work or want to work @ a Zoo?

I want to.

[liltattyprinces]

i would deffinatly love to but unfortunatly we don't have any here

[RaVeNo888o]

i was thinking about working at the toronto zoo, but i would only want to do it if i could work with the reptiles...but i ended up getting another job anyways

[MouseKilla]

Sounds like a great idea if it's a good zoo, (like T.O Zoo) and it pays ok. If they don't pay slave wages it would be a great place to learn new stuff. I personally don't know anyone that works at a zoo so I have no idea how to get hired or what qualifications they would be looking for.

[jay76]

Hey, I work at a zoo! Well, when I was the night supervisor at work I felt like a cat shepherd anyways :p. You meant an animal zoo? That'd be fun. Except I'd likely wind up shovelling elephant dung or something...

[TheRedDragon]

I'd love to work at a zoo. I'd prefer to be dealing with reptiles or the big cats. ;)

[snakelet]

Mee Mee Mee!

I'm getting a degree in zoology, though I hear it's really difficult to get a real job at a zoo anyways. Here's to hoping and hard work :)

Leanne

[enso]

For most new hires the pay is just like the stuff you'll be scraping off the floor...
Poo.

[katev17]

I'm going to be volunteering at the Australia Zoo in Sunshine Coast for a month...

After that I'm going to be going to Guelph (hopefully) for Wild Life and Habitat Ecology (with Heather :))

My goal is to become a zookeeper, or to be associated with Zoo Check (Sport Chek...Zoo check... I sense a theme)... and as far as I know, it IS pretty difficult to get a job as a zookeeper at such a high-esteemed place like TO zoo. Although the MAIN qualification (as told to me by one of the TO zoo employment representatives) is experience. The more experience you have, the better chances you'll have.. That's why I'm doing this volunteer thing!!

I get told I'm going to end up shovelling poo a lot, but I know it's something that comes with the job... that's definitely the least of my worries!

I'd like to either work with reptiles, primates or felines! Ahhh can't wait :p

Leanne: Good luck with the zoology thing, I'd like to hear how it's going!!

Kate

[Cas]

I want to.... eventually. I did volunteer at the Saskatoon zoo for a number of years.

The main qualifications are PAID experience (volunteering is good, but you will lose out to any candidates that have paid exp) and a degree in zoology or biology. You can get away without the degree if you have a lot of experience, but volunteer exp generally isn't enough to make up for a lack of schooling.

And yes, wages will suck.... generally starting at minimum wage for a lot of hard work (unless you get in at a large facility - where they generally hire only those with a lot of exp or long-term volunteers).

Dawn

[BrandonVeenstra]

Sure, I would love to work at a zoo. As long as I'm not walking around with a shovel cleaning up the wastes..

[Burm41]

Im only 14 at the moment but i would love to work at a zoo, i have been wanting to work with animals *every animal* ever since i could remember:) i think working for a zoo would be a awsome job.

[katev17]

lol Yea I definitely wouldn't be trying to do this with just volunteer work!!!

The volunteer work helps to get into the university program as well, though!

Kate

[Mike177]

i would like to work at a zoo but i would also realy like field work. if things go well ill end up studying herpatolagy anyway but who know right?

[nolagurl]

I volunteer at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans, LA. My job mostly involves cleaning tanks. I deal with reptiles and mammals. It's a lot of fun and I'm learning a lot through hands on experiences and osmosis.

Paid employees make starvation wages. They have a hard time hiring keepers because starting pay is $18k. Senior keepers make less than $30k. That's pretty meager wages even for Level 4 keepers.

[Ryan]

I'd love to work at a zoo with any type of animal! Unfortunately my career path has taken me to Plbg and Htg so I guess I'll just have to volunteer at Scales Zoo with Ryan and Sheila!

[RepTylE]

We have a small animal collection at work that could be considered a little zoo. I hang out there and help now and then even thought it's not my department .
It's nice to work with the cats and some of the other exotics but mostly it's shovelling *****. Although it's not every day you get to hold a baby jaguar , lol.

[Jacenta]

I would love to work at a zoo. I am taking a biology degree now, and once that's finished I plan to go into Veterinary Medicine. If I could be a veterinarian (what I want to do) AND work in a zoo or with zoos, then there's a huge bonus. I am so intrigued by tigers, elephants, and basically any exotic animal that could be in a zoo. They're all amazing animals.... that's about all I can say.

[Lisa]

What is there to working @ a zoo besides cleaning up after the animals? I do that at home. Mind you I would like to set up a private zoo.