Animal Keeper

Five Sisters Zoo

Animal Keeper – Permanent (subject to a six month probationary period)

Full time (40 hours per week) working 5 days out of 7.

Salary Dependent upon experience

We currently have an exciting job opportunity for a keeper to join us here at Five Sisters Zoo. This position will give the right candidate the opportunity to work with a range of our amazing animals. The candidate must be able to deliver an excellent level of animal husbandry and welfare for all animals in their care. We currently have seven animal sections at FSZ (Carnivores, Primates, Birds, Education Centre, Farm, Castle Children’s Zoo and Lost Kingdom Reptile House) and the successful candidate will be expected to carry out work on all sections. We pride ourselves on our high standards of animal welfare at FSZ and candidates must be able to maintain this high standard across all animal sections.

Five Sisters Zoo is an ever-growing collection located in West Lothian, Scotland. 2020 marked 15 years since the park was first opened and while it was a challenging year, we are confident that we will continue through 2021 stronger than ever.

The successful candidate will

-Carry out work across all seven animal sections here at FSZ.

-be responsible for the daily husbandry of a wide range of species.

-Create, design, and implement environmental enrichment in a range of different enclosures.

-Engage with visitors to the park.

-Deliver talks to large crowds as and when required.

-carry out work in all weather conditions.

-Be willing to work weekends and evenings when required.

-Liaise with other zoo departments (education, events etc) as and when necessary.

-Record animal behaviour and make sure section notes are up to date for our animal registrar.

-Report to senior keepers and our head keeper.

Essential Requirements:

-Have experience implementing environmental enrichment.

-Fantastic observation skills with excellent attention to detail.

-Must be able to communicate on a one to one basis with staff and visitors as well as being comfortable delivering public talks to large crowds.

-Must be physically fit and willing to work outdoors in all weather conditions.

-Must be comfortable working alone and part of a team.

-Must Possess excellent customer service skills.

-Have a valid UK driving license or good access to public transport.

-Previous zoo experience.

Desirable Requirements:

- A Diploma in the Management of Zoo and Aquarium Animal (DMZAA)

- Experience working with Reptiles and amphibians.

Please Note- Five Sisters Zoo is not easily accessible by public transport as we are not on a bus route. You must be able to arrange your own transport to and from work.

Applicants must send their CV and a covering letter to graeme@fivesisterszoo.co.uk by 1700 on Tuesday the 26th of January 2020.

FYI

This vacancy has been posted out to the many thousands who read the popular Zoo Jobs Blog Page and then on to the 129,400 plus followers of the ZooNews Digest Facebook Page. It is then immediately forwarded on to Twitter and then to Pinterest and Linkedin (8,000+ connections). Many vacancies are shared to individuals and groups. In short your vacancy will have the potential of reaching something in the region of some 80,000 plus people within 24 hours. Most of these people are working in a zoo environment, Keepers, Curators, Vets, Zoo Directors, Trainers, Aquarists and more.

ZooNews Digest has subscribers in over 1200 Zoos in 150+ countries. Zoo professionals are International.

The number of people who will actually read the posted vacancy will actually be considerably less. Usually this will be between two hundred and three thousand. This will depend on the type of post, the time of the year and where it is located…of course not all will apply. I wish you the very best of luck in finding the right candidate for your post.

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