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WPWoodland Park Zoo
Woodland Park ZooZoo

Animal Keeper

Location

Seattle, Washington, United States

Work type

Onsite

Employment

Full Time

Experience

2+ years

Compensation

$33 - $38 per hour

Posted

1d ago

Summary and responsibilities

Role overview

Summary

This role involves providing daily care for animals, including feeding, cleaning, and health assessment, while also engaging guests with conservation messages. Animal Keepers collaborate with various teams and maintain accurate records to support the zoo's mission.

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.

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

Updated 1d ago

Candidate fit

Skills and qualifications

Additional skills

Animal Care • 1+ yrs
Animal Observation • 1+ yrs
Record Keeping • 1+ yrs
Medication Administration • 1+ yrs
Animal Training • 1+ yrs
Collaboration • 1+ yrs
Guest Engagement • 1+ yrs
Adaptability • 1+ yrs

Experience

2+ years

Certifications

Washington driver's license • Required

How this role is positioned

Role classification

Job domains

Operations

Industries

Wildlife & Conservation

Employment

Full Time

Contract duration

Permanent

Hiring type

Direct

Global hiring

Location specific

Offer details

Compensation and benefits

Compensation

$33 - $38 per hour

VisibilityShared on listing
CurrencyUSD
PeriodHourly

Location, schedule, and role shape

Work setup

Work conditions

Primary locationSeattle, Washington, United States
Work typeOnsite
Global hiringNo

Bandwidth profile

peopleMedium7/10
physicalHigh8/10
cognitiveMedium7/10
executionHigh8/10
creativityMedium6/10
uncertaintyMedium7/10
communicationHigh8/10

Context on the employer

Company snapshot

Company

Woodland Park Zoo

Team size

Growing team

Location

Seattle, Washington, United States

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.

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Animal Keeper

Seattle, Washington, United StatesFull Time