Zoo Keeping

Zookeeping Distance Education Course

Lesson Structure

There are 9 lessons in this course:

1. The Nature and Scope of Zoos
   • What is a Zoo?
   • The Evolution of Zoos
   • Change in Zoo Design
   • Modern Zoos and Sanctuaries
   • Legislation
   • Codes of Practices
   • Animal Welfare
   • Enrichment
   • Record Keeping
   • Identification Tags
   • Animal Taxonomy
   • Phylums & Classes of the Animal Kingdom
   • The Function of Zoos
   • Research and Zoos
   • Education in Zoos
2. Occupational Health and Safety in Zoos
   • Workplace Health & Safety
   • Legislation
   • Health & Safety Management in Zoos
   • Zoonoses
   • Legionnaires Disease
   • Other Safety Issues
   • Risk Management
3. Captive Husbandry - Nutrition and Feeding
   • Animal Nutrition
   • The Effect of Poor Nutrition on Animal Behaviour
   • Water Requirements
   • Essential Dietary Components
   • Vitamins & Minerals
   • Food Storage & Preparation
   • Presentation of Food
4. Captive Husbandry - Health
   • Monitoring Health
   • Maintaining Health
   • Diseases
   • Quarantine
   • Record Keeping/Animal Transfer Data
   • Enrichment Data Transfer Form
5. Captive Husbandry - Reproduction
   • The Need for Captive Breeding
   • Captive Breeding in Zoos
   • Goals of Captive Breeding
   • Issues with Captive Breeding
   • Inbreeding Risks
   • Captive Breeding Programs
   • Monitoring the Reproductive Status of Zoo Animals
   • Assisted Reproduction
   • Stud Books
   • Birth Control and Separation
6. Captive Husbandry - Behaviour and Enrichment
   • Ethology
   • Behaviour
   • Types of Behaviour
   • Behaviours in Captive Animals
   • Learned Behaviour
   • The Flight or Fight Response
   • Animal Behaviours
   • Animal Welfare Indicators
   • Environmental Influence on Behaviour
   • Behaviour Management
   • Environmental Enrichment
7. Human-Animal Interactions
   • Keeper-Animal Interactions
   • Visitor Animal Interactions
   • Dealing with Dangerous Animals
   • Flight Distance of Animals
   • Handling Animals
   • Visitor Animal Interactions
   • Stress Reduction
8. Enclosure Design and Maintenance
   • Optimum Enclosure Design
   • The Perfect Enclosure?
   • Replicating Nature
   • Providing Stimulating Environments
   • Physical Enrichment
   • Feeding Enrichment
   • Sensory Enrichment
   • Social Enrichment
9. Problem-based Learning Project - Environmental Enrichment
   • Introduction and Definition of PBL
   • Problem Definition
   • Team Structure and Interaction
   • Discussion
   • Resources
   • Guidelines
   • Final Report

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Aims

• Describe the nature and scope of zoos as a source of education and conservation
• Develop appropriate procedures for managing occupational health and safety in a zoo, with a view to minimising risk to staff, animals and visitors
• Describe the nutritional requirements and feeding preferences of animals within zoos
• Determine health management measures required for a range of different captive zoo animals
• Describe the management of breeding in zoos
• Determine appropriate ways to manage a range of different wild animals in zoos
• Explain procedures and techniques used to manage human-animal interactions in zoos
• Identify and describe the qualities of good enclosure design. Develop maintenance programs for different enclosures

WHAT IS A ZOO?
This seems a simple question but before we begin to learn about working in a zoo, we need to define exactly what a zoo is. A zoo can defined as an establishment, park or garden where live animals are kept on display for the purposes of recreation and education. A zoo can cover a range of establishments such as aquariums, fauna sanctuaries, bird gardens, safari parks, petting zoos and any collection of living animal species on display to the public.

MODERN ZOOS/SANCTUARIES
Today, wild animals are kept in a wide range of settings. These include:

• Zoos or zoological gardens
• Open range zoos or safari parks,
• Aquariums
• Roadside Zoos
• Petting Zoos
• Amusement Parks and
• Private collections.

Many modern zoos have a common ethos of contributing to education, conservation and research while providing entertainment to visitors.

Working with Animals
A major safety risk at zoos arises from working with animals. There are a number of hazards faced by employees when working in close proximity to animals.  The main two risks of working with animals include the potential spread of disease from animals to humans (zoonoses) and risk of injury from the animal – eg. biting, mauling, scratches. Impact injuries such as crushing, bruising and fractures from larger animals.

Other factors may influence the potential risk for injury such as the predatory nature of the animal, reactions of both humans and animals to fear, the natural group instinct of animals and hierarchical behaviour and the fact that some animals are built to kill or injure other animals.

It is important for employees to be aware of these risks as well as the fact that these risks change with age, sex, grouping behaviour and sexual maturity of certain animals. Employees should be properly trained in how to work and handle animals (when necessary) and zoo keepers should always have relevant experience for working with different animals. There are specific guidelines for working with large and dangerous animals such as elephants, large cats and snakes as they pose the greatest risk. Many countries have strict guidelines for working with different animals. The United Kingdom Health and Safety Executive (HSE), for example, has identified categories of risk for certain animals. These categories are linked with specific procedures and guidelines. The UK categories are:

• Greater risk (Category 1): contact is likely to result in serious injury or threat to life (eg. large carnivores, primates and venomous snakes)
• Less risk (Category 2): where contact may result in injury/illness but would not be life threatening (eg. medium-sized mammals/primates and some bird species, including birds of prey)
• Least risk (Category 3): includes those animals not listed above (eg. smaller mammals, birds and some reptiles and amphibians).

Zoo employees need to be aware that research on behaviour of all animals kept in zoos is not comprehensive and that risk assessment principles should be adopted before handling animals.

The HS recommends that UK zoos adopt a non-contact policy for those animals in category 1. Of course this is not always possible and there are exceptional circumstances where risk is minimised do the age of the animal, contact is necessary for veterinary reasons, the animal is under anaesthetic or the animal is in a controlled situation (such as a crush cage). Again, it is worthwhile researching the categories of risk for animals in your own country or region.

Moving Animals within a Zoo
This can be one of the most hazardous operations within a zoo. Moving animals requires experienced staff, careful planning and an accurate identification of potential hazards. Both the animal’s welfare and the safety of staff are major concerns when relocating animals. If possible, staff should avoid manual handling of the animal. If this is not possible, this should be kept to a minimum and be carried out by appropriately trained and experienced staff. 

Consideration should also be given to the type of equipment required such as suitable lifting equipment, crates or cages that may be needed and vehicles to be used (if any). These should all be inspected prior to moving for any potential risks or maintenance issues.

Restraining Animals
Each animal species will require a different form of restraint to ensure the safety of both the zoo staff and the animal.  Below are a few examples of restraints used for some animals.