Zoologist jobs in Florida

Join Us at the Zoo!

Interested in saving wildlife in wild places?  At the Zoo, our job is for people to fall in love with nature.  Our job is for people to have fun.  Our job is to save the planet.  Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society’s mission is to inspire people to act on behalf of wildlife and the natural world.  By joining our team, you’ll become a critical part of a conservation organization at a thrilling time as we expand our team to build the Zoo of the future.  Our passionate team gets to work around koalas, jaguars, and panthers while actively doing conservation work in the field from corals to Florida panthers. Palm Beach Zoo is a green sustainable workplace that embraces DEAI and we are actively creating a more diverse and thriving workforce.

The Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society is currently seeking a full-time Zoologist to provide world-class animal care to a wide variety of species, with a focus on our large carnivores (tigers, jaguars, black bears), avian (psittacines, waterfowl, birds of prey), primates (callitrichids, spiders, capuchins) and small mammal collection. We are in the process of re-imagining our beautiful tropical Zoo and are looking to bring in new expertise and enthusiasm. 

The Zoo staff works in a positive, team-oriented environment to support our mission to inspire people to act on behalf of wildlife. Zoologists promote increased environmental awareness and conservation through excellent animal care and management practices, coupled with positive visitor experiences.

The ideal candidate will have a strong animal care background with a deep experience in operant conditioning, welfare input/outputs, habitat design criteria, animal nutrition and animal social interactions, including introductions and breeding. They will also have experience engaging visitors with formal and informal animal encounters where they share their passion for animal wellness and the preservation of wild places. Finally, they will demonstrate a solid track record of workplace competency performance, including communication, teamwork, efficiency, emotional intelligence, leadership, planning, change management and administration.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Perform animal husbandry tasks (feed, clean, train, etc) for terrestrial animals (mammals, birds, primates, reptiles)
• Clean, maintain and improve animal care facilities, including service areas and surrounding spaces
• Enhance the welfare of the animals by observing and understanding animal behaviors and analyzing welfare outputs to increase mental stimulation and choice within the animal’s environment
• Plan, prepare and feed out nutritious diets
• Assist veterinary team during animal health diagnostic and care procedures
• Complete animal records including: animal feeding habits, diets, breeding behavior, health status, physical conditions, enrichment and training
• Communicate safety and health concerns to appropriate staff
• Participate in the capture and restraint of animals for transfer and veterinary procedures
• Participate in animal behavioral training program and commit to learning training techniques
• Design and execute behavioral shaping plans for all animals under their care
• Participate in exhibit concept design and collection planning discussions
• Provide informal guest presentations
• Initiate informal talks and encounters
• Participate in educational programs as assigned
• Handle program animals for events and encounters
• Participate in drills and emergency response and provide feedback on the experience – as needed
• Safely operate vans, pickup trucks, golf carts, hand tools, power tools, personal computers, laboratory equipment and general office equipment
• Proactively seek out experiences and information to enhance professional skills and knowledge