This internship is designed for college students or recent graduates interested in pursuing a career in zookeeping, animal behavior, enrichment, or behavior research. Interns will work directly with the Curator of Behavioral Husbandry and animal keepers to learn the principles of enrichment, animal welfare, and behavioral research through hands-on enrichment activities and animal observations. This internships will focus on the development and implementation of enrichment for various zoo animals, including carnivores, elephants, hoofstock, and birds, as well as research to evaluate behavioral scenarios and the effectiveness of enrichment. The intern will also assist with other projects throughout the Zoo, including animal welfare assessments, development of new enrichment ideas, enrichment construction and enrichment evaluation.
This internship is unpaid and housing is not provided.
Schedule: 40 hours per week. Hours are generally completed during regular departmental hours (Monday - Friday)
Requirements:
Junior of Senior in college or recent graduate
Major in Biology, Animal Behavior, Psychology, Zoology or other related field
Strong willingness to learn, positive attitude, team mentality
Previous hands-on work with animals
Proficiency with Microsoft Excel preferred
This internship requires 40 hours a week
This internship is unpaid and housing is not provided.
Primary Responsibilities:
Develop, coordinate and implement daily enrichment for polar bears
Prepare seal diets
Develop enrichment schedules for several species
Construct and implement enrichment items for various species
Conduct behavioral observations
Data entry and analysis
Click here to download application.
Please email filled-in application to volunteer@toledozoo.org.
