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Best Animals to Work With in a Zoo?

Discussion in 'General Zoo Discussion' started by nikib393, 7 May 2016.

  1. nikib393

    nikib393 Member

    Joined:
    7 Apr 2016
    Posts:
    6
    Location:
    USA
    Which animal(s) are your favorite to work with in a zoo and why?

    I am trying to decide which areas to select for an internship...marine mammals, hoofstock, carnivores, birds, pachyderms, or primates.
     
  2. overread

    overread Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    9 Dec 2015
    Posts:
    318
    Location:
    England
    I don't work in a zoo but my experiences and life has taught me that this is a purely personal question that only you can really answer. The only objective way you might consider getting an answer would be to ask about which positions have the most availability or the most potential pathway to advance or which pay the best.

    Because working with animals is a very personal choice; but also based upon your experiences too. Some people will work with anything and love it; others will only enjoy working with certain species or even certain individuals.

    Thus its really a very personal thing; the best you can consider along that front if the money/advance angle isn't something that concerns you would be to:

    1) Try and intern/workwith/volunteer with as many different animals as you can. Get a real world personal experience and see how things are. Try to avoid just spending a day doing it. You want to experience not just the highlight of new experiences but part of the monotony of daily care (because most animals will require regular daily care that will be pretty dull after a while).

    2) Try and research and learn as much as you can about care methods of different species. Sometimes the enjoyment and fulfilment of working with a species comes from confidence, experience and understanding. Whilst frustration and annoyance comes with a lack of understanding.

    3) Realise that even something like "carnivores" or "birds" varies a lot depending on what you work with and on the site itself. Birds might mean you're feeding everything on site from the grain to the predatory feeders (actually it probably will mean that); whilst if you have raptor flight experience you might well then be spending some time working with raptor birds for displays - or you might be providing enrichment for parrots; similarly you could just be hosing down the penguin bath.
    Carnivores is the same; working with wolves would be totally different to working with the tigers