Also called: Enrichment Specialist
Invents toys, puzzles, and activities that keep zoo animals curious and active.
Builds a frozen fish 'popsicle' for polar bears, hides scents for lions to track, and makes papier-mâché piñatas filled with insects for meerkats.
Estimate.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in biology or animal behavior plus keeper experience.
Ways in: 4-year college, On-the-job training. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Animal Behavior, Zoology.
Growing about average. Niche.
Low risk for 10 years. AI can suggest enrichment ideas, but building puzzles and testing them with real animals stays creative, physical work.
Classes: Biology, Woodshop or engineering CTE, AP Psychology, Studio art.
Official data: O*NET occupation 39-2021.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.