Someone asked me about this and it occurred to me I have no idea. How many zoo keepers, on average to zoos employ? Obviously it varies according to collection size but does anyone have a rough idea?
Really depends. Some zoos can afford to have smaller sections, which means more keepers. Some zoos (like the one I worked in) have huge sections (1 for mammals, 1 for birds and 1 for primates) and only two or three staff working each section, which means they're running around like nutters all day trying to everything done!
I have to hand International Zoo Yewarbook volume 39 and as an example I pixcked a page at random (page 260) data for 2002 Germany Wilhelma Zoo, Stuttgart 1039 species 232 staff Tierpark Ueckermuende 97 species 21 staff Vogelpark Walsrode 705 species 65 staff Wuppertal 464 species 81 staff Guinea-Bissau River Zoo Farm 165 species 36 staff Hong Kong Hong Kong Zoo 227 species 32 staff Ocean Park, Hong Kong 516 species 771 staff Not all staff are keepers but it does show how the number varies in different collections. 1238 staff listed for 7 collections gives an average of 176 staff, this is obviously an inflated figure because of Ocean Park. disregarding the last collection the figure is 467 staff in 6 collections, an average of 77 per collection.
there's not really answer to your question. There is such a huge range in zoos, from tiny to large, struggling to secure, cowboy to professional. It also depends on where in the world the zoo is I should expect. If you can find staff numbers for individual zoos, also, they tend to be for all staff not just the keepers. I think it is safe to say, though, that few (if any?) zoos have enough keepers!
