Senior Animal Keeper
Location: Highland
Wildlife Park
Salary: £20,162
per annum
About Us
& Section Highlights
The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) owns
and manages Edinburgh Zoo and the Highland Wildlife Park. The Highland Wildlife Park specialises in
cold weather adapted species that are housed in enclosures that generally exceed
the norm in scale. We probably devote
more space to polar bears than any institution in the world, with a cutting
edge approach to how the species should be kept and bred. The recent arrival of an adult, proven female
and the completion of her specific enclosure complex will allow us to introduce
animals for breeding in spring of 2016.
We are currently building a spectacular cliff-face
enclosure for snow leopards which should be completed by early summer. As well as being visually spectacular, it
will incorporate a unique (non-lethal) enrichment capability that involves the
neighbouring herd of markhor.
As well as being the key regional institution for
processing wild caught individuals and breeding Scottish wildcats as part of
the national conservation action plan, in mid-summer we will be starting
construction of a large off-exhibit Amur leopard breeding centre. The point of this facility is to be able to
produce leopard cubs that are not habituated to humans and so are eligible for
transporting to Russia for the reintroduction programme.
(A Google image
search Highland
Wildlife Park will bring up a wide range of photographs that will
give you both a flavour of the Park in general and show a good cross section of
the species we maintain.)
Living in the
Highlands
We are centrally based within the Cairngorm National
Park, surrounded by arguably the most stunning scenery in the UK. That said, we are in very easy reach
(literally 50 metres away) of the main north/south road, the A9, which is the
primary link between Inverness and Edinburgh.
Equally we are only 4 miles away from the town of Kingussie, whose train
station is a primary stop for trains from Edinburgh, Glasgow and London. The nearest Airport is Inverness and there
are direct flights to London, Amsterdam and a range of other UK and European
destinations.
Rented accommodation is available locally, and you may
find that house purchase prices are somewhat lower than what you are used
to. We will of course assist the
successful candidate in finding suitable local accommodation.
(As for
images of the Wildlife Park, a similar Google search Kingussie will bring
up images of one of the local places that could be your new home; some other
local villages are Newtonmore, Kincraig and Aviemore.)
The Position
The vacancy within
the Living Collections Department at the Highland Wildlife Park is for the
second-in-charge post on the animal section responsible for all non-ungulate
species, primarily carnivores but also some birds, a primate and a rodent species.
The successful candidate will have relevant carnivore experience and ideally a
fairly broad exposure to other taxa. It
is essential that the successful candidate is computer literate, has passed the
Diploma in the Management of Zoo and
Aquarium Animals, or an equivalent zoo focused qualification, and holds a valid
driving license; qualifications should be confirmed within your application
material. Experience of working in a supervisory or managerial role would be
beneficial. The successful candidate will be required to cover all aspects of
managing the section, including the staff, in the absence of the Team Leader. It is also important to note that the current
Team Leader will likely be going on a year’s leave of absence training staff at
various bear rescue centres in Southeast Asia during 2015, and the successful
candidate may be asked to run the section in her absence, being paid
accordingly, and answerable directly to the Head of Living Collections.
Working hours are 37.5 hours per week (annualized figure) and the post
involves weekend and occasional evening work.
This post is not suitable for those that are relatively new to
the zoo community and only applicants with significant and appropriate zoo experience
will be considered. Previous applicants
need not apply.
Closing Date: Sunday 12 July 2015.
For full information on how to apply, please
visit the Highland Wildlife Park vacancy page and follow the instructions or
visit www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/careers-vacancies/. Registered
charity number: SC004064
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