So you want to be a zoo keeper?

Zoos Victoria has 120 keepers who care for the native Australian animals, exotic animals and endangered species at Melbourne Zoo, Healesville Sanctuary and Werribee Open Range Zoo.

With so few keeper positions within Victoria, competition for vacancies is especially keen. To be considered for appointment, you need to apply when Zoos Victoria invites applications which generally occurs one to two times a year. We currently have a number of candidates who are being considered for future zoo keeping roles from our last recruitment process. We do not foresee another intake of Keepers until early 2009.

To become a candidate for a zoo keeping role at Zoos Victoria, selection is done through Assessment Centres at which all those short-listed spend a day in the workplace being assessed for suitability.

Applications cannot be lodged in advance of the invitation to apply. Interested applicants should visit our website regularly to view the vacancies once they arise.

What do I need to do to be considered for a zoo keeping role?

Candidates must demonstrate a passion for animal care. Having a tertiary qualification would be an advantage. To demonstrate your passion, we look at your experience and the lengths you have gone to to achieve that experience.

How do I get animal husbandry experience?

There are several wildlife parks and sanctuaries around Victoria and Australia that would be an excellent way of gaining animal husbandry experience through volunteering. Zoos Victoria offers a small number of volunteering opportunities to people who have applied to the periodic intake of prospective zoo keepers, been selected as people of interest and whose job prospects would be enhanced by practical animal husbandry experience.

Volunteers generally work an eight-hour day up to a maximum of 160 hours or 20 full days under the supervision of a senior zoo keeper. Work is spread over several weeks and can be completed on weekdays or weekends.

What qualifications do I need?

We look for qualifications in zoology, animal biology, animal husbandry, veterinary nursing or other animal-related disciplines and/or husbandry experience with farm animals, domestic animals, or wildlife. 

Please refer to the course details below for information and contact details for relevant courses to the zoo industry. You may need to refer to the up-to-date VTAC guide or equivalent in your State or Territory (see your careers department) for courses being offered at the various universities and TAFE colleges throughout Australia.

Please contact the relevant training provider for further information or a course outline.

How are jobs offered?

If you have been selected as suitable for appointment from the Assessment Centre, your name is added to a list of preferred zoo keeping candidates and each time a vacancy arises, you will be contacted and considered for appointment.

If you are on our preferred zoo keeping candidates list, you will be eligible to become a volunteer within our Life Sciences department while a job opportunity arises.

Entry to zoo keeping is always by appointment to a fixed-term vacancy which arises from time to time by the incumbent being on leave or absent from the workplace for a period ranging from one month to twelve months. While Zoos Victoria attempts to provide continuous employment to those placed on fixed-term appointments, no guarantee of employment beyond the fixed term can be given.

Careers in zoo keeping

Once you secure a highly sought after animal keeping role at Zoos Victoria, the career path will be quite structured. The career path is based on a classification system with each level set according to specific skill sets gained through on-the-job training, tertiary studies and animal keeping experience.

There are three Bands in the classification structure. Band 1 covers keepers in training or pre-trade qualified. Band 2 covers trade qualified and experienced keepers. Band 3 covers supervisors and experienced keepers who have specialised in particular aspects of zoo keeping.