wanted to share a couple of photos of a couple of our babies at work. Here is our youngest gerenuk, Hurley.
Zoo baby photos
- Thread starter bagnshoofetish
- Start date
I really want to see them. 
so cute, i want your job. i'm majoring in either biology or zoology. just curious what degree do you have?
I don't have a degree. I did it backwards! I volunteered, got hired and take animal science classes every now and then. I have always done alot of reading through the years to educate myself (not to mention had a menagerie of animals growing up). I am one of the extreme rare cases of being hired w/o a degree. The thing is, you can have a PhD and still not have what it takes to be a keeper (ie; animal sense) but by all means do pursue your education - it is all good!
where are you going to school?
lucky you, no degree! I'm going to the ohio state university. i do a good bit of reading about animals (dogs mostly) and animal psychology, have had many animals growing up, and did 4h so i hope i have some sort of animal sense. when did you start volunteering? do most of the keepers have a PhD or just a 4 year degree (if so in what)? sorry for annoying questions, i haven't really talked to any zookeepers, so i can't ask questions.
when did you start volunteering? do most of the keepers have a PhD or just a 4 year degree (if so in what)? sorry for annoying questions, i haven't really talked to any zookeepers, so i can't ask questions.
I volunteered about 6 years ago. I got hired in about 6 weeks! (like I said, pretty rare). It sounds like you have the right experience. Most keepers if they do have a degree usually will have at least a bachelors in some sort of wildlife science (biology, zoology, botany, etc.) The requirements depend on the zoo. You should find the institutions you are interested in working for, go to their website and see what they look for as far as education/experience. 4H is always a good thing to have on your resume as well as any work with exotics. You should also try to volunteer as much as you can at a wildlife sanctuary/rescue, ranch or zoo to get more exprerience. And don't get discouraged by the vicious circle of "needing experience to work with exotics" yet, no one will take you cause you have no experience yet! Even volunteer for behaviorial research or something like that at your school or local zoo. The amount of ambition and dedication you have will help you get to where you want to be. Just keep at it.
