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Zoology - career help!
Expert: Meryl Green - 11/3/2009
Question
Hello
I have just completed a National Diploma in Animal Management in England, I came out of the course with the top grades and a bigger passion to work closely with intelligent animals. I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to travel around the world in search for my “dream job”. The problem is I don’t know what type of animal I want to work with: tigers, lions, cheetahs, giraffes, dolphins, whales, seals, orangutans, horses, dogs, cats the list is endless. Right now I am in Australia volunteering at the local RSPCA centre, Australia zoo and the wild life warriors, I also have a job at a riding centre. I guess what I am asking you is do you know any zoo/organisations that take on paid/volunteers, that help out and get hands on experience with the animals in your field of expertise.
Thanks charlotte
Answer
In the United States many organizations offer internships. Some, usually smaller places, are purely volunteer, and others offer one or more of room, board and a stipend. You can check the American Zoo and Aquarium website (http://aza.org/joblistings/) for current listings in AZA institutions. What the job covers will depend on the individual zoo. At mine we have Feline, Primate, Bird, Hoofstock and "Reptile" departments. Other places have keepers for specific animals or general groups like carnivores. There are also a lot of other organizations that advertise for interns (Center for Great Apes in Wauchula, FL; Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, TX; Disney's Animal Kingdom [requires that you graduated within the last six months]; etc.) it just takes a bit of digging.
Outside the US I'm sure there are places that offer this sort of thing, but I'm not especially familiar with them. You can check the websites of the zoo organizations in the countries you're interested in to see if they list jobs, or find a list of zoos and other organizations and check them individually. If you see a place you're interested in but they don't list anything, it never hurts to email asking about jobs or internships.
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