Animal keeper

As an animal keeper you work with animals every single day. You feed care for nurture and train animals in for example zoos wildlife parks aquariums or animal research facilities. It is a trade for you who love animals and at the same time can take responsibility keep your cool and be physically active in all kinds of weather.

A typical day is about animal welfare from morning to evening. You clean out cages, installations and stable rooms prepare and distribute food keep an eye on animal behavior and health and report if anything looks wrong. In many places you are also involved in training animals arranging their facilities so they are stimulated and telling visitors about the animals. Hygiene, routines and safety matter a lot because you work closely with living animals.

• 01You learn to feed correctly and compose feed according to the individual animal species.
• 02You learn to read animals' behavior and spot signs of illness or poor welfare.
• 03You learn to maintain, clean, and arrange facilities, enclosures, and stall environments.
• 04You learn to train and handle animals safely, both for the animal and yourself.
• 05You work with animal welfare and understand why the rules are as they are
• 06You get experience communicating knowledge about animals to visitors and colleagues

Animal keeper is a vocational education so you typically start with a basic course at a vocational school and then continue on the main course with practice at a company, for example a zoo or animal park. You alternate between school and practice and get paid during the practical part. You can start directly after primary school or enter later if you, for example, have attended another education or worked first.

As a fully trained animal keeper you can work in zoos wildlife parks aquariums animal research facilities or other places with professional animal care. With time and experience you can specialise in certain animal groups take responsibility for a facility or become a broker. The trade can also be a stepping stone if you later want to go further with biology animal behaviour or nature management.

“The animals immediately sense whether you're calm and know what you're doing — that's the heart of the entire profession.”