Also called: Wildlife Rehab Specialist, Raptor Rehabilitator
Nurses injured and orphaned wild animals back to health and releases them into the wild.
You bottle-feed orphaned baby squirrels every few hours, splint a hawk's broken wing, and care for a turtle hit by a car. The best day is opening a box in a forest and watching a healed owl fly away.
Many rehabbers are volunteers; paid jobs are at nonprofit centers.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Certificate, about 0 years after high school. State and federal permits required; training through rehab centers; many have biology or vet tech backgrounds.
Ways in: Certification, On-the-job training, 4-year college. Training cost: Under $15k.
Majors to look at: Wildlife Biology, Veterinary Technology, Biology.
Growing about average.
Low risk for 10 years. Nothing to automate in nursing injured animals; demand holds, though pay is low.
Classes: Biology, Animal science CTE.
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.