Animal Care Extern

Zoo New England

Zoo New England's mission is to inspire people to protect and sustain the natural world for future generations by creating fun and engaging experiences that integrate wildlife and conservation programs, research, and education. Zoo New England manages and operates both Franklin Park Zoo in Boston and Stone Zoo in Stoneham, Massachusetts, and attracts over 1 million guests. We are in an exciting growth phase, with many new projects, exhibits, and events.

Animal Care Extern

SUMMARY

Externs support our Animal Care teams during the busy season, assisting with a variety of tasks in both interactive exhibits and browse collection. Most positions focus on monitoring guest and animal interactions in our seasonal attractions, including the petting zoo and Aussie Aviary (budgerigars) at Franklin Park Zoo. Externs spend approximately 90% of their time monitoring and engaging with guests in these interactive exhibits and 10% assisting keepers with animal husbandry tasks.

Strong candidates will provide exceptional customer service while overseeing walkthrough exhibits and assist with diet preparation, cleaning, observing and communicating animal behaviors, and occasionally supporting zookeepers with additional tasks.

Externs assigned to browse collection assist our Horticulture and Animal Care teams with daily responsibilities, including collecting, storing, feeding, and freezing approved tree and plant species. These externs must have a valid driver's license and be comfortable traveling offsite in a company vehicle to meet collection goals.

All externs must be willing to spend extended periods on their feet. These positions run from April/May through October (six months or less) and require work hours 9 AM - 6 PM (exhibits) or 7 AM - 3:30 PM (browse), with two days off per week. Externs must be available to work on weekends, holidays, and overtime as needed. Additionally, externs should not have outside commitments or plan for additional time-off beyond their scheduled days off.

YOUR PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

* Stand in an assigned area for long periods, interacting with guests in a friendly way and monitoring guest/animal interactions (exhibit externs).

* Care for the animals in the walkthrough exhibits by preparing and feeding their diets, cleaning all appropriate areas, including washing dishes, picking up animal waste and handling trash (exhibit externs).

* Identify, cut, process (freeze/store) and distribute edible plant material to our animal collection (browse externs).

* Perform all duties necessary to prepare and maintain exhibits including raking, sweeping, and cleaning.

* Work safely in close proximity to animals of a variety of taxa and assist zookeepers in assigned duties, including tasks such as assisting with shifting, food preparation and feeding.

* Observe animal behavior and share information with keepers for record-keeping.

* Ensure compliance with USDA, Animal Plant, and Health Inspectional Services guidelines.

Experience Required

REQUIREMENTS / QUALIFICATIONS
• High School diploma or GED.
• TB tested negative within the last 6 months and fully vaccinated for COVID-19.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office products, particularly Word, Outlook, Excel and Teams.
• Must be at least 18 years old, have a valid driver's license with a safe driving history and be comfortable driving offsite to collect browse.
• Must be physically able to work on their feet for long periods and lift over 50lbs. PREFERENCES
• Preferred:
Education experience engaging with guests in an animal setting.
• Preferred:
Willingness to see opportunities for growth and learning in any setting

Further Comments

WHO YOU ARE
• Friendly and Welcoming:
The job requires great customer service to balance welcoming guests while informing them of guidelines, answering questions, and managing all interactions in a courteous and positive way.
• Excellent communicator:
Candidates will need to communicate well with guests, asking and answering questions. The position requires oral and written communication, asking for and passing updates or observations to the rest of the team.
• Excellent time management:
Externs need to be punctual and…