What are the responsibilities and job description for the Animal Care Internship - Giant panda/CHINA position at MEMPHIS ZOO INC?
Job Details
Summary
The Memphis Zoo has an exciting internship opportunity with our CHINA Team. The intern will work alongside keepers to gain firsthand experience in aspects of zoo animal care such as husbandry, enrichment, training, exhibit maintenance, record keeping, public presentations, and conservation. The ideal candidate for this position should be seeking a career in the animal care field and enjoy working in a team environment.
Collection encompasses:
The CHINA section has a wide variety of animals including giant pandas, Sulawesi macaques, Francois’ langurs, red pandas, Pere David’s deer, red-crowned cranes, and a variety of songbirds and waterfowl.
Essential Functions:
- Supervised daily husbandry of assigned animals.
- Informal and formal public presentations to engage guests and provide a positive guest experience.
- Prepare appropriate daily diets and maintain accurate records of assigned animals.
- Appropriately cleans/disinfects animal enclosures/habitats under direct supervision of keeper staff.
- Actively observes animal’s behavior.
- Accomplish a special research, observational or school project.
Program Overview and Requirements
Minimum requirements: All applicants must have completed their freshman year at an accredited college or university and must have a GPA of 3.0 or greater. Applicants should include a resume and cover letter as one document with their application. The internship will run December/January through April/May. Start and end dates are flexible.
Preferred qualifications: Candidates for this position should be self-motivated, hard-working, positive, dependable, like to work in a team setting, and have an interest in pursuing a career in animal care. Preference is given to those currently studying a related science field or those who have just completed one.
Position type/expected hours of work: This is an unpaid internship. A commitment of 10-12 weeks and 40 work hours per week is expected. Housing must be acquired by individual. Selected participants must successfully complete a background check and TB test.
Work Environment: While performing the duties of this internship, the intern frequently works in outside weather conditions. The intern is occasionally exposed to wet and/or humid conditions, fumes or airborne particles, chemicals and vibration. The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet while in the office, or moderately loud while on Zoo grounds.
Physical Demands: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an intern to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.
While performing the duties of this job, the intern is frequently required to stand, walk, sit, talk and hear. The intern is constantly required to use hands and fingers to feel, handle or operate objects, tools, or controls; and reach with hands and arms. The employee is occasionally required to climb, balance, stoop, kneel, crouch, crawl and walk. The intern must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, color vision, and the ability to adjust focus.
Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.