Animal Keeper (Various)

About the role

Woodland Park Zoo is a one-of-a-kind urban oasis where people connect with wildlife, learn about the natural world, and discover how everyday choices can support conservation. Each year, more than 1.3 million guests visit the zoo to experience animals, habitats, education programs, and conservation stories that inspire curiosity and action. As a member of our animal care team, you help bring that mission to life through attentive daily care, collaboration, guest engagement, and a shared commitment to saving wildlife and inspiring everyone to make conservation a priority in their lives.

Who you are

As an Animal Keeper, you may support a variety of animal areas depending on operational needs, staffing coverage, and your experience. You are successful in this role because you are a:

• Dependable Animal Caregiver: You are attentive to animals' daily needs, routines, and surroundings, and you take pride in providing consistent, thoughtful care each day.
• Collaborative Teammate: You work well with others, follow established protocols, and support safe, reliable coverage across teams, schedules, and animal areas.
• Conservation Educator: You enjoy connecting guests with animals and sharing conservation messages that inspire empathy, curiosity, and action.
• Flexible Learner: You are open to developing skills with different taxa, assignments, and routines, and you adapt to changing animal care and operational needs.

Your primary responsibilities

Animal Keepers may be assigned to different animal areas and schedules based on business needs. Responsibilities may include:

• Provide daily animal care, including cleaning, disinfecting, diet preparation, feeding, watering, animal observations, and habitat maintenance.
• Assess animal health, behavior, welfare, and safety daily; report abnormal conditions or behavior patterns promptly to managers, curators, and veterinary staff.
• Maintain accurate animal records and logs, including observations, diets, medications, training progress, enrichment, and other required documentation.
• Support preventive health care and prescribed treatment plans, including medication administration, physical exams, quarantine procedures, and veterinary support activities.
• Participate in animal training, enrichment, behavioral husbandry, capture, restraint, transport, and emergency response activities using established safety protocols.
• Collaborate with animal care, veterinary, horticulture, maintenance, operations, education, conservation, and guest-facing teams to support safe, high-quality animal care and guest experiences.
• Provide animal information and conservation messages through public presentations, keeper talks, guest interactions, media opportunities, and behind-the-scenes experiences.
• Support exhibit repairs, modifications, animal moves, and exhibit design or implementation projects as assigned.
• Develop proficiency in multiple animal areas when needed to support coverage, animal welfare, and operational continuity.

Qualifications

• Equivalent to a bachelor's degree in a life sciences field from an accredited four-year college or university; and two (2) years of professional experience directly caring for animals in a zoo, aquarium, wildlife park, or managed zoological collection.
• Prefer paid zoo animal keeping experience for two (2) years at an AZA facility.
• Ability to perform physical work in indoor and outdoor environments and lift up to 50 pounds as needed.
• Ability to work a variety of shifts, including early mornings, evenings, weekends, holidays, and schedule changes based on animal care and operational needs.
• Successful applicants must live and work in Washington State to perform this role.
• Applicants must be at least 18 years old and have a valid Washington driver's license with a safe driving history.

Pay

• The starting rate for this role is $33.49 per hour.
• Every employee under the Joint Crafts Council wage scale, on first appointment, will receive the first step of the salary range for the position.
• Employees will advance to the second step at the start of the pay period after their one-year anniversary in the job classification and each milestone thereafter (3 years, 6 years, 11 years, and 17 years of service) with Step 6, $38.25 per hour being the maximum pay rate.

Schedule

• Opening date: 8/4/2026
• Closing date: 8/25/2026
• Job type: Temporary, full-time, and part-time opportunities may be available
• Union: Represented
• Openings: Ongoing pool for current and future vacancies
• Location: Onsite
• Department: Animal Management

Benefits

Woodland Park Zoo offers benefits and perks that may vary by employment classification, schedule, and eligibility.