Being a zookeeper requires lots of hard work and dedication to provide the quality of care that animals need. Remember, to survive, animals need resources 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and in all kinds of weather.  Zookeepers provide many of these resources to the animals and are key to ensuring the animals' health and well-being.

Zookeepers require certain types of training and education to be good at their job and to qualify for a zookeeping position at the Zoo. Zookeepers that are assigned to take care of different species, need different qualifications. 

The N.C. Zoo has around 300 full-time employees. Around 80 of these positions are held by Animal Division staff, which includes the zookeepers, their supervisors, the animal curators and other people who help with animal care and nutrition. 

During the day, zookeepers look after the animals in a variety of ways. Along with feeding the animals and keeping their living spaces clean,  zookeepers develop animal enrichment programs for their animals, keep careful records on the animals' behaviors and health and work with veterinary staff to assist with the animals' medical needs.  Zookeepers must understand the natural histories of the animals in their care, including their nutritional needs and species-typical behaviors. Keepers also need good observational skills, so that they can come to know the "personalities,"  activity levels and behavior patterns of the specific individual animals in the collection. Keepers must know their animals well and be skillful in recognizing small changes in each animal's behaviors because unexplained changes may indicate a problem that needs to be corrected.

 Since animals require care 7 days a week, zookeepers must work on a rotating schedule. This schedule includes weekends and holidays.

Last modified 01/07/2007 09:30am.