
Internships run for 12 weeks and are unpaid. Indianapolis Zoo internships are open to college students who have completed at least two years of undergraduate work, as well as recent graduates. Internship options include conservation education, bird encounters, marine mammals, carnivores, primates, aquarium, vet hospital care and nutrition, public relations, marketing, and more. The Indianapolis Zoo’s internship was recently named one of the top 10 non-profit internship programs in the United States (a ranking conducted by Vault).
#COLUMBUS ZOO INTERNSHIP PLUS#
All interns receive a $300 stipend each month plus free on-site housing. Applicants must have completed at least 2 years of undergraduate work in a wildlife, biology, or educational degree program. Conservation education interns work with children and park visitors, giving guided driving tours and caring for education program’s animals (snakes, tarantulas, hissing cockroaches, and hedgehogs). Animal care interns can specialize in working with carnivores, black rhinos, birds, or the varied collection kept in the Children’s Animal Center (parrots, tortoises, pot bellied pigs, goats, and an emu). FOSSIL RIM WILDLIFE CENTERįossil Rim Wildlife Center (in Texas) offers animal care and conservation education internships. Internships require a 10 week commitment and are unpaid students must provide their own housing and transportation. The DLC is home to 223 lemurs plus a handful of bush babies and lorises. The Duke Lemur Center (in North Carolina) offers internships in many different areas including field research, husbandry, education, animal enrichment, fundraising, and more. Paid interns earn $9.50 per hour but housing is not provided. College students and recent college graduates are eligible to apply. The Denver Zoo (in Colorado) offers both paid and unpaid internships in animal care, behavior, horticulture, and marketing throughout the year. Shared rooms are available adjacent to the zoo property for $75/week. College students may be particularly interested in the 3 week (120 hour) sessions designed for breaks in school schedules where they can focus intensively on one species. CONSERVATOR’S CENTERĬonservator’s Center (in North Carolina) offers exotic animal husbandry internships with several different commitment levels ranging from 3 to 20 weeks. While the internships are unpaid, interns are eligible for many perks such as discounts on food and retail items, free parking, unlimited free admission for the intern and their guest, free safari transport tours, and more. Spring and fall internships require a minimum commitment of 16 hours per week, while summer internships require a commitment of at least 24 hours per week. The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium (in Ohio) offers 12 to 16 week internships in the Animal Care department. The internship offers up to a $10,000 stipend and interns can take advantage of low cost housing adjacent to zoo. Interns in this program participate in research studies related to rhinos, small cats, or polar bears. The Cincinnati Zoo’s Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW) offers a paid 5 month internship for graduate or veterinary students funded by the Schmidlapp Foundation. Here are some of our favorite zoo internships (in alphabetical order): CINCINNATI ZOO In some cases, however, zoo internships are purely volunteer opportunities with no tangible benefits other than the experience itself. Many programs also allow students to coordinate college credit for their participation. There are a few paid positions (and we’ve done our best to find and list them here), but it is far more common for interns to receive benefits like discounted or free admission passes, free parking, gift shop discounts, uniform apparel, or housing. Paid internship opportunities in the zoo industry are far from plentiful, so you should be prepared for that reality. An internship enhances your experience and gives you the chance to network directly with zoo professionals. Completing a zoo internship will give you the best chance of securing employment. Working at the zoo is a dream job for many, so it can be tough to get your foot in the door unless you have an amazing resume or insider connections.
