Overview
Taronga's Zoo Keeper Volunteers support our keeping teams to provide the highest standards of animal welfare and care for our animals.
Volunteer Keepers can find themselves performing a huge number of activities during their volunteering including:
- the basics of providing the highest standards of animal care
- learning about individual species and their unique needs
- observing training sessions
- providing enrichment for our animals
- helping out with our presentations and keeper talks
Rain, hail or shine, Volunteer Zoo Keepers get involved with every aspect of animal care, so expect to be cleaning, chopping, wheelbarrowing, shovelling, raking, and anything else it takes to ensure our animals are provided with the highest level of welfare possible.
Have a question?
Can I use Taronga’s Volunteer Program to support the practical requirement of my studies?
No. At Taronga, we offer a range of courses through our own registered training organisation, the Taronga Institute. As a part of completing courses with Taronga, our students are allocated work placements with our keepers and other staff members to sign off competencies and complete assessments.
How long can I be a Volunteer Keeper for and how often will I be volunteering?
Our volunteers commit to a weekly or fortnightly roster, for a minimum of 12 months, up to 2 years. As our Volunteer Keeper roles are our most popular, we make every effort to enable as many people as possible to experience working alongside our amazing animals and animal care staff. This means that we restrict volunteers to a 2 year period during which they must commit to one day per week or one day per fortnight.
Do I need to have any experience with animals to apply for a Volunteer Keeper Role?
No! We receive applications from a huge range of people. The hiring teams take into account many different criteria to fill our volunteer positions including, but not limited to; availability, personality and how they would fit into the team, skill set, career intentions and experience. We acknowledge the importance of giving enthusiastic and passionate individuals with little to no experience the opportunity to experience the industry, as well as using the skills of people with extensive experience working in a specific field.