Meet the Keepers
So you want to be a Zoo keeper?
Be warned, working in a zoo or a wildlife park is a hard job.
Don't even think about becoming a keeper if you imagine that all you do all day is play with cuddly animals. Zoo staff have to work weekends and bank holidays and during the summer months the hours can be long. Working with zoo animals is often dirty and smelly.
There is a lot of hard physical work involved and the animals can get sick and die or have to be put to sleep. Not only do you have to deal with the animals but you also have to be able to communicate with people, a great many keepers are required to talk to the public as part of their job.
A zoo keeper provides daily care for the animals. This includes cleaning enclosures, preparing feeds, providing water and bedding etc. Keepers also have to keep daily records of the animal's health, diet and behaviour. If you are still interested in becoming a keeper there are several ways of going about it. Remember there are a great many people out there who also want to work with animals and there are few jobs available - so there is intense competition. The more experience and qualifications you can get, the better your chances of landing a job.
One route is to take a degree in zoology. See the zoology page for further information. However you don't have to take a degree in order to work in a zoo. All Dublin Zoo keepers have to have the Zoo Animal Management Qualification (ZAMC) The ZAMC course can be completed at Sparsholt College in the UK.
For further information see www.sparsholt.ac.uk.
There are approximately 35 keepers caring for the animals in Dublin Zoo. They are all part of three teams, East, West and African Plains. Here we speak to the three team leaders about how they became keepers and what their job means to them.