How To Become A Zookeeper - Part 1

you know I'm on social media quite a bit and I get a lot of questions one of my number one questions though is usually something like hey Rick I want to work with animals but I don't know what kind of education I need can you help me out yes I can help you out see Rick tell me what kind of degree I should get to become a zookeeper or animal care specialist like you I could do that too I think I want to be a zookeeper but I don't know what kind of education I'm looking around I don't even know where to start to look to get a job like that how did you get to where you are today I drove here just kidding I'm sorry I'm sarcastic like that I will always take the time to answer questions like this especially questions like this because honestly I wouldn't be here today if someone didn't take the time to answer my questions when I was a student so here we go we're gonna have a video today about what it takes to become a zoo keeper or animal care specialist or something similar in a zoo setting or an aquarium oh you know what first how about some sweet drone footage above the San Diego Zoo right that wasn't a drone it was sky fari but still kind of cool right so before we get into the details of what you need to know to become a zoo keeper or animal care specialist or something similar you need to know a little bit about the job like it's very physically demanding you're on your feet all day you're lifting you're hosing you're raking things like that you kind of have to work pretty much any given day because holidays and weekends don't really matter the animals still need proper care now let's see what else Oh safety protocols some species we work with can be a little bit dangerous we have to respect their sides and compared to ours and their strength and power so you have to follow all the safety protocols and understand them clearly let's see we covered the work the physical demands oh you want to know about the hugging and cuddling part yeah no sorry very few positions if any really involved hugging and cuddling with the animals proper care of the animals means completely hands-off so if you're looking to get a job that's hugging and cuddling animals I highly recommend professional dog or cat hugger and cuddler I don't know if it's a thing but it is 2018 you could make it a thing I'm sure and probably be pretty lucrative - I'm gonna go check on that keep in mind there's a lot of competition for very few jobs not that it pays well in fact it doesn't pay well at all but it's a very emotionally rewarding job so there's a lot of people that want that kind of work now I don't tell you these things to dissuade you from your passion or tell you to you know bug off and do something else I just want you to have a very realistic and clear view that zoo keeping your animal care specialist jobs are maybe five to ten percent cute and cuddly and easily 90% or more very hard dirty labor oh and don't think that working with animals means you won't have to work with people you're gonna have to work with a lot of people other zookeepers managers supervisors veterinarians those that help raise funds for the zoo where you want to work oh yeah and the general public because they need to learn about your animals that you're caring for and what's going on with them in the wild so a lot of people people work alright so you're still here okay let's go sit down and have a talk about the details of how you gonna make this happen all right well welcome to my office a little less distracting than having animals behind me right and it's not really my office just a location here at the zoo but let's get down to it you're gonna need two main things to get a job as a zookeeper animal care specialists or something similar in the field of animal care first one a bachelor's degree now most facilities today do require a bachelor's degree preferably in something of the animal realm and animal sciences such as biology ecology zoology are in those ologies but also animal behavior that one is important to and works well and a lot of people who have a degree in animal behavior that then work right into the zoo world because working with animals is a lot of understanding their behavior and working with that - oh and if you happen to have a bachelor's degree in something else and you're trying to pivot or make that change into the animal care world it doesn't necessarily mean you're not going to be a candidate if you don't have something in the animal field but you're gonna have to kind of work and massage what that degree is and how that's going to apply to animal care and if you want you know shoot me a message we can discuss and see how that might work it's not a guarantee but we can try and figure something out now if you're like well Rick I'm gonna apply to a place that doesn't require a degree absolutely understand that keep in mind though your competition for those positions probably already has their bachelor's degree so to make yourself a more viable candidate even if the facility you're applying it doesn't require bachelors you might want to consider getting it anyway the other thing you will need of course is experience and this is the big conundrum for all of us trying to get into the animal field how can you get a job that requires experience if you can't get hired for position to get that experience so you can then have more experience it's frustrating I know if you're in high school or college now I highly recommend volunteering at your local zoo animal shelter a vet hospital horse stables anything that involves working around animals the daily grunge work of cleaning and feeding is very important another good one wildlife rehab there you're working with animals that clearly aren't used to being around people you need to learn all the safety protocols and proper care and also it's great giving back to our local wildlife when you work at a rehab facility so check for those volunteer opportunities around anything that has anything to do with animals to help gain more experience and of course that usually leads into Rick how much experience do I need well I would say a minimum the six to twelve months because most job postings I see say 12 months or around a year experience or more even so with that in mind I would say check some job postings now and see what they say and kind of use that as a guide post or a map if you will on what you need to do to start setting yourself up to be a viable candidate for these positions there's a hawk behind me I don't know Mike's picking up but I love it it's great while that hock finishes up I do want to mention really quickly to two other options that help in sort of advancing your opportunities to get into the animal care or keeper world one is called Moorpark College here in California the other ones in Gainesville Florida called the Santa Fe Community College Teaching Zoo both facilities as I understand it have their own zoos so the students get hands-on work but you also take college-level courses now full disclosure I do teach part-time at Moorpark and I am a graduate of that program I'm more familiar with it so I can answer more questions on that if you have them I have not gone to the Santa Fe Community College I have met some graduates though and they say it's a great program I think it's a great program from what I've heard I highly encourage you to look into both I will have links down below in the comments do both of those programs so you can look into it more on your own and do some of your research there I will also put down below that another link to a frequently asked questions page that the San Diego Zoo my employer has put up that kind of helps talk through some of the expectations and things to become a keeper - I think that covers it if you have any questions please leave a comment below or find me on social media as zoo keeper Rick on Twitter Instagram Facebook I'm all over the place if you are a professional in the zoo or animal care world leave a comment if you have other tips and tricks for people to learn from I really hope this video kind of lasts a long time it's when I plan on sharing when I get the question how did you get your job or how did you become a zookeeper and so if there's more information in the comments that people can read through then by all means please leave that there for them if you're still working to get into the field leave some some tips and tricks on what your struggles have been so people know what to expect as well I really want this video especially to kind of have that community feel so people who are looking to get into this career or in this career path already can have that moment of conversation so when people do receive this link for me to answer their question they have more information there I can only of course speak from my personal experience and I know there's a lot more experiences out there than just mine so I think with that said we have wrapped up this video thanks for hanging out for the whole time I hope I answered your questions and again if you have any more questions please feel free to find me all over social media at zookeeper Ric or right here on YouTube leave a comment I do check them and I'll get back to you have a good one everybody [Music]

Channel: Rick Schwartz

Views: 106,995

Rating: 4.9465532 out of 5

Keywords: EATM, Zookeeper, Santa Fe College Animal Tech, Working with animals, Get a job working with animals, San Dego Zoo, Columbus Zoo, How to become a zookeeper, Become a zookeeper, Zoologist, Safari Park, Hippo, Gorilla, zoo, animals, wildlife, keeper, career, zoo keeper, wild animals, jobs, zookeeper rest api, zookeepers - ark, zookeeper http api, Day in the life of a zookeeper, Career advice, zoology rick

Id: APIL02WsFl4

Length: 8min 22sec (502 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 13 2018