Welcome and meet the team

Welcome to your course

Welcome to ZSL’s Becoming a Zookeeper: A Virtual Work Experience Course. Over the next four weeks, you’ll gain a realistic insight into the exciting and rewarding world of zookeeping. The course has been carefully designed to help you understand what it takes to become a zookeeper, explore the day-to-day realities of the role, and develop the knowledge, skills and confidence needed to pursue a career in the zoo sector.

Through a combination of videos, interactive activities, discussions and real-world scenarios, you’ll learn directly from ZSL’s zookeeper professionals. You’ll explore the responsibilities of a zookeeper, discover different career pathways, strengthen your employability skills, and gain practical guidance on applications and interviews.

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

• Identify the core skills, professional expectations and daily responsibilities of a zookeeper at ZSL
• Apply key principles of animal husbandry, including enrichment, nutrition and health and safety, to real-world zoo scenarios
• Explain how zookeeping supports ZSL’s global conservation impact
• Compare different zookeeping specialisms and career pathways
• Prepare a high-quality application and interview strategy
• Feel more confident applying for zookeeping roles

To get started, watch the short introductory video and meet the zookeepers who will be guiding you throughout the course.

We hope you enjoy the course and leave feeling inspired, informed and ready to take your next step towards a career working with animals.