The Moral Question: How do you deal with negative comments about zoos?

Since the release of the Movie That Shall Not Be Named (MTSNBN), things have... changed, at zoos. In fact, things are almost volatile. It's more common for people to balk when they find out what I do for a living now than to think it's cool or ask me questions.

And frankly, it's heartbreaking. 

As a writer, I've tried so hard on this blog to counteract the damage that MTSNBN has done, but it seems people are choosing the popular path when it comes to how they feel about zoos. They've been emotionally manipulated into believing it's wrong instead of doing their own research or taking action against the real enemies, i.e., poaching, wildlife trafficking, sensationalist "animal welfare" organizations, and climate change. 

It's exhausting. Some days, it makes me question my sanity. It makes me question my career decisions. It makes me wonder if I'm a horrible person. 

Let me make something quite clear: I don't know a single zoo employee who doesn't love the animals in their care as if they were their children. We take better care of our animals than most people take care of their pets. We devote our lives to them. We stay awake for days at a time when they're sick. We're constantly looking for new and creative ways to enrich them. We're always trying not to think too hard about the battles their wild cousins face, because it breaks our hearts. 

And talking to someone who has already made up their mind about how evil zoos are and is looking for a reason to be proven right feels like yelling at a wall. 

Perhaps it's time to stop calling them zoos. Perhaps it's time to shift away from that word, like we shifted away from menagerie, and start calling them what they really are. Except "Environmental Conservation and Wildlife Science Facility" doesn't roll off the tongue quite the same. 

I've been pretty lucky so far that I haven't had any major encounters with anti-zoo visitors at my job. For the most part, unless they're undercover for An Organization That Shall Not Be Named Either, people who don't like zoos don't tend to go to them. But I have had some bad luck in my personal life. 

There's a person I know very well who's vocally anti-zoo, pro-MTSNBN. And it frustrates me to no end. Because she should know better. She should know that I'm not a cruel person. But I think I finally changed her mind. Or at least opened the door for her to do it. 

I told her, a few weeks ago, about what's going on in Africa. How dozens of species will be extinct in the next 20 years thanks to poaching and wildlife trafficking. How zoos may be the only place people will get to see those animals. How without zoos keeping those animals now, we wouldn't understand their social and breeding behavior and be working towards saving them. 

How ultimately, we work to release animals back into the wild. 

I told her about tigers, and how there's more tigers in backyards in the US than left in the wild. 

I told her about the California condor, and how there were only 22 left in the wild thirty years ago, and now there's more than 400, and that's ONLY thanks to zoos. 

As for marine animals? Well. The thing that's particularly frustrating to me about that whole thing is that SeaWorld is the only reason most people know what a killer whale is. Until the Marine Mammal Protection Act was passed in 1972, it was legal for the US Navy to use them for target practice. They were seen as scary, dispensable monsters. Now millions of people love them, all because of what SeaWorld has done. And no, their early practices weren't sound, but we knew so little about animals back then (yes, even fifty years ago), and their animal care now is top notch. 

Ocean animals are so hard to pinpoint in population, but rest assured with climate change and rising ocean temperatures, they're all not long from being endangered, too. 

And finally, I told her how what I want from her is to be getting mad at the people who ARE actually doing the harm. Get mad at the poachers. Get mad at the traffickers. Get mad at the roadside "zoos" who breed exotic animals for tourists to pose with and then send them off to be killed in canned hunting expeditions. 

Don't get mad at the (usual disclaimer: responsible, accredited) zoos. Honestly. We're the good guys. Trust me when I say, we care more about the animals in our care than ANYONE else. 

How Much Money Do Zookeepers Make?

I recently received this question by email (thanks Kali!) and thought I'd add it to the info available on the blog. I actually don't get this question as much as I used to, and obviously my experience won't be everyone's experience, but I'll be as honest as I can without giving too much away.

So. How much money do zookeepers make?






Not much.






Yeah, yeah, I know. Keep reading.

Someone once told me something about dream jobs, like zookeeping, that's really stuck with me. Basically, a significant part of the pay in a dream job isn't money. The non-salary benefits of being a zookeeper are pretty obvious, but they do mean that you'll probably never be wealthy. Sure, you can survive on a zookeeper's wages, but the rest is up to you.

I can't really help you with hard numbers, because pay varies so much from area to area and zoo to zoo. But working full time, in my area of the country, you can expect to make about $30K per year as a zookeeper. Less, obviously, working part-time.

If that sounds low, there are other options. You can go into management, or look at the business side of things. You can get into research or lab work or even go into exotic animal veterinary medicine. There's a lot of options out there if $30k isn't enough. But, like I said, for those of us in the field, who love it, the extra pay comes from the other perks we get.

Despite being a specialized and difficult job, zookeeper pay is kind of on the low side for a skilled position. Part of the low-ish pay zookeepers get is simple economics. It's a popular job, and with so many willing candidates out there, zoos don't have to pay a lot to attract qualified people.

Just another aspect to keep in mind when you're considering if zookeeping is the right career for you!

Why Being a Zookeeper is Pretty Freaking Awesome

I feel like I don't even really need to write this post. And yet, I will.

There are a lot of reasons being a zookeeper is Pretty Freaking Awesome. Just like there are a lot of reasons it's a tough job. Working with animals is rewarding and frustrating. But here are some of the best perks:

You get to meet the MOST interesting people. Ha! Bet you thought all the perks would be about animals, huh?

Believe it or not, even on my more introverted days, some of my favorite work moments come from the people who visit us. Why? Because...

You get to make a difference. Zoos, back in their infancy, used to be displays of wealth and power. Shows, menageries, circuses, royal collections. But over time, zoos have discovered their true purpose: to educate the public about the animals that live there. When you walk into a responsible, accredited zoo, you should do more than see animals. You should learn to love them, the places they come from, and this planet we live on. Every single day I go to work, I get the chance to show people those things. I get to share the love I have for this planet and its inhabitants with every face I talk to. Whether they listen or not is up to them, but at least I get to try.

Plus, there are some really cool people out there who have done some really cool things. And I love hearing about them.

It's awesome working for a place that literally makes a difference in the world we live in. When I go home at night, I know that I haven't just done my job. I've helped climate change. I've encouraged a donation that might save a cheetah, or a tiger, or a lion's life. I've changed someone's mind about buying rhino horn or a tiger pelt next time they're in Asia.

I've told someone why it's important to keep certain weeds in their yard, and turn off their porch lights when they go to bed.

You get to learn so much. I LOVE learning. LOVE it. My job is awesome because I get to actually use the knowledge I've amassed over the years. (As a side note, I get to use a lot of my favorite skills in my job, too-- public speaking, time management, interpretation, etc.). And I never, ever, stop learning. I pick up new facts every day. The animals teach me something new every day.

You get to work with like-minded people. Zoos are FULL of people who are just as passionate about animals and the environment as you are. If you love either of those (and really, you can't just love one or the other, they are irrevocably intertwined), it's awesome having a workplace where everyone feels exactly the same about those things as you. There's no awkward conversation because everyone is already on the same page.

Of course, the best part:

You get to work with animals. I said before that there's not very much time for this. But there is some. And those moments? Are the best of my day.

I play with babies, snuggle pocket-sized marsupials, scritch antelope backs, talk to parrots, handle the world's second largest frog, maneuver pythons into my arms, and pet animals we didn't even know existed a hundred years ago. I go to work every day and see things I would never see in my lifetime otherwise, and I am so, so thankful that they let me do my job. Some days, I can't believe they PAY me for it.

So. Being a zookeeper?

It's not an easy job, no. But it is, to me at least, the best job in the world.

Being a writer is a pretty close second, though. :)

Interested in pursuing a career as a zookeeper? See my ultimate guide here.

Why Being a Zookeeper Isn't Always a Dream Job

I've declared this week, while I wait on The Writer's Voice to happen, The Week of Whys. You'll see . . . why . . . as we go.

Don't let the title of our first post fool you-- I love my job. LOVE. L.O.V.E. it.

But there are a lot of things about my job that people don't always understand or expect, and if you or anyone you know is considering a job in this field, I suggest you point them this way.

Zookeeping, and animal care in general, is a highly desirable field to work in. It seems obvious why, especially if you love animals. After all, zookeepers must do nothing but the fun stuff, right? They must just spend all day hugging penguins (scarier than it sounds) and riding lions (not a thing), right?

Er. Well. Not right.

Here's why being a zookeeper is a tough, tough job.

Animals get hurt, sick, old, and eventually, they die. There's simply no way around this truth. Even working with some of the best exotic animal vets in the world (which I do; I would trust our vets with my life and the lives of my pets, who are akin to my children), sometimes there's just nothing you can do. Zoo animals live on average up to 40% longer than their wild counterparts, but at some point even the most long-lived animal will simply succumb to time. We do everything we can, but it's not always enough. Accidents happen. Diseases happen. Fate happens.

This, is the hardest part. Rest assured, as sad as you may be to hear an animal at your local zoo has died, the staff that worked there, poured their sweat and blood and energy and love into that animal, are sadder.

It sucks, to work with an animal for years, sometimes since birth, and watch them grow old and die. We carry these hurts with us in tiny little pockets in our heart. No matter how long ago, we will always remember.

If you want to work in a zoo, be prepared.

Animals are hard to take care of. Well, this seems obvious, but it's not always. There really is no "easy" zoo animal. Some are easier than others, sure, but to give the animals the level of care our standards call for requires a lot more work than you'd think. I work with a lot of terrarium type enclosures that seem easy because they're small. But they all get completely stripped out, washed down, and replaced every day or every other day. Before, when I worked with penguins, we would completely melt the ice in a half to a third of the exhibit and blow in fresh snow every morning.

If you want to work with ocean animals, it's a bit easier as hoses and filtration tend to do a lot of the work for you. But there's still hundreds of pounds of fish to thaw, bucket, carry, and feed out.

There's so much diversity in land animals that pretty much every species requires different care. Every species gets its own daily menu at my zoo, and part of my job is "cooking" for all of them. Imagine working in a restaurant where the menu is different for each customer that walks in.

Frogs require wearing special gloves to prevent us contaminating them with a deadly fungus. Elephants can drop about 150 lbs of manure each, PER DAY. Some animals eat a thin slurry that gets everywhere and dries to the consistency of cement and has to be scrubbed off each and every morning. Antelope poo comes out in little balls that range from sunflower seed size to chocolate covered cashew size, and we have to rake it all up. Bales of hay weigh over a 100 pounds, and yes, we do have to move them on our own. We cut thick branches off of trees we farm for the purpose of feeding. We clean dishes, we sweep floors, we dust, we mop, we empty the trash. We have to work in weather that reaches below freezing and over 100 degrees, in the full sun, in the rain, on holidays, on weekends, early in the morning and late, late at night. Some animals can kill you. Some animals can make you very sick. Some animals can cripple you for life.

We never have soft hands.

When people ask about our jobs, we want to share, but sometimes, it's just overwhelming knowing where to start, what to say.

There isn't a lot of time for snuggles. What most people don't realize about zookeeping is that we spend so much of our day just taking care of the animals that we don't have much time left over for what we all got into the field to do: spend time with the animals. But, in a lot of ways, this is a good thing. My zoo concentrates on breeding, and animals behave more naturally without humans interfering all the time and influencing their behavior. They get the attention from us that they need, but this isn't the job for you if all you want to do is bond and play with animals.

You will still have to deal with people. A lot of people start out wanting to get into this field because they aren't "people" people. But, uh, bad news. You actually HAVE to be a people person to work in this field because a.) you will always work with the public in some capacity, and b.) you will still have to work with your co-workers. It will never just be you and the animals.

It's not an easy job to get. In fact, it's getting harder and harder to get into this field. There are plenty of sources out there for how to get into it, but the more research you do, the better off you'll be. More and more often, you have to be a jack of all trades to work here. Expand your horizons and apply, apply, apply. My own two cents? It's 90% about your attitude (after your qualifications). Be confident, but nothing is below you. If you don't believe me, see paragraph above again about spending most of our day cleaning up poo.

So. Still want to be a zookeeper? Good. If you've read this far and it still sounds awesome, then you're probably one of the right people for the job.

It IS rewarding. More on that later this week :)

Edit: check out my companion post here: Why being a zookeeper is pretty freaking awesome.

Interested in pursuing a career as a zookeeper? See my ultimate guide here.