Keeper

Dartmoor Zoological Society

Dartmoor Zoo are looking to employ a Keeper within the Animal Department. The successful individual will have relevant experience, good communication skills and a passion for all aspects of animal husbandry.

Set in 33 acres of beautiful woodland with some stunning views of the surrounding countryside and a fantastic collection of animals, Dartmoor Zoo is a unique family day out in the beautiful South Hams of Devon. Our animal collection includes tigers, lions, zebra, gelada, lynx, cheetah, wolves, tapir, ostrich, capybara, owls, meerkats, and a fantastic collection of invertebrates and reptiles.

In the past 18 months, several new bird species have been added, including cranes and rollers; we have plans to further increase this collection over the next 2 years. There has never been a more exciting time to join our dedicated team. The zoo has many future development projects planned.

In this role you will work closely with our enthusiastic keepers to provide high standards of animal care for all mammal and bird species, incorporating the latest advances in husbandry. You will be accountable to the Curator and Senior Keepers and work alongside other Keepers to assist in overseeing Entry-Level Keepers, placement students and volunteers. Previous supervisory experience and a genuine interest in helping to train the next generation of zookeepers would be advantageous.

You will be a good team worker, able to motivate others, as well as show initiative and have a positive outlook. You will work regularly on all rounds and play an integral role in training and enrichment, in addition to maintaining animal enclosures. For full details, please see the job description.

The successful candidate will:

be enthusiastic and hardworking
have a minimum of two years full-time employed experience within an animal department of a zoo
ideally have the DMZAA (or ANCMZA) or BSc (Hons) Zoology or related subject
have a keen eye for detail and a good awareness of health and safety requirements
gain knowledge of biology, ecology and captive requirements of both mammal and bird species
have previous experience with a variety of species including birds
be able to work in extreme outdoor weather conditions
be computer literate and able to carry out daily record keeping (previous use of ZIMS desirable)
have good verbal and written communication skills
be able to work within a department team, both as a team player and using your own initiative
have good organisational and time management skills
be available to work on weekends, bank holidays and special events when required

Dartmoor Zoo offers a competitive salary and holiday package.

This role is a permanent fulltime position.

Go to Dartmoor Zoo website for the full Job Description and Application Form

https://www.dartmoorzoo.org.uk/get-involved/jobs/

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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.

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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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