I toured Boston’s Franklin Park Zoo during the making of Adam Sandler’s feature film Zookeeper. I was really there to see two gorillas–Okpara and fugitive gorilla, Little Joe. I had the privilege to care for them as a relief animal keeper when they were youngsters at another zoo. And did they do some growing!
Remember that we are keepers of the animals. We are not keepers of the zoo. This distinction is of critical significance to some. At least it was to one of my former supervisors. ‘Animal Keeper’ or ‘Zoo Keeper’ — the vocation does have a negative connotation in some countries and even in some circles in the lower 48. In Alaska we are treated like gods. Kidding…
My parents certainly thought zoo keeping was cool, but a few of their friends suffered from severe intellectual snobbery. The truth is that many animal keepers have Master’s degrees and I know at least one with a Ph.D. Several others are Ph.D. students or candidates.
I personally found that it was easier to get into veterinary school than it was to acquire a position as a full-time animal keeper. And I respect the Ph.D. programs, but those too, were easier to get into than it was to find a keeper job. You might not get rich keeping the kingdom, but you’ll love what you do.
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