Facility

The Texas Zoo

Closing Date

Description

The Texas Zoo is a zoological institution located in Victoria, Texas and serves the surrounding community as a leader in conservation education. This internship is designed for undergraduate, recently graduated students or graduate students pursuing careers in animal care, conservation, animal health, welfare education or related disciplines. Applicants must have reliable transportation and are responsible for their own housing. There are apartment rentals in the area, however more affordable housing is available on the campus of University of Houston, Victoria. The Texas Zoo internships are unpaid but offer extensive hands on, gainful experience. If college credits are desired, it is solely the student’s responsibility to coordinate through their academic institution to receive credits. Students requesting to conduct a special project during the internship must submit a proposal to be considered for approval.

Internships offered are:

Animal Care with options to focus on training, welfare or veterinary care
Zoo Education
Public Relations

Responsibilities

Animal Care and Zoo Education Intern duties will include but are not limited to:
• Assisting in the husbandry and handling of the animal collection. Including mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates.
• Diet Preparation
• Record keeping
• Facility hygiene
• Interacting in a positive and educational way to all Zoo Guests on the daily basis.
• Enrichment
• Behavioral Conditioning
• Assisting in educational animal programming such as camp, classes or field trips
Learning Outcomes:
• Experience working with and caring for animals in a zoological setting.
• Animal enrichment
• Animal Husbandry
• Behavior modification
• Experience with animal record keeping.
• Experience in public speaking

Public Relations Intern duties will include, but are not limited to:
• Helping to manage social media
• Graphic Design
• Assisting during various media events such as TV appearances and newspaper interviews
• The option to get some experience with animal care as a means to better understand the inner workings of a zoological institution. This will enable the intern to be a better spokesperson and give them further insight into better public relations in this setting.

Work Environment:
The schedule for this internship may include week-ends, evenings and holidays. This position includes routine exposure to extreme heat, cold, or inclement weather. This position includes a high degree of public interaction with zoo guests of all ages. Applicant must exhibit strong professionalism and communication skills.

Education and Pre-requisites

Qualifications/Experience
• Must be at least 18 years of age.
• Must be able to commit to a minimum of 20/hrs a week, but prefer 40 hrs/week
• Internships run 6-12 weeks or more if requested
• Must be a current student (undergraduate or graduate), or recent graduate
• Excellent verbal and written skills.

Compensation and benefits

This is an unpaid internship

Application instructions

Interested applicants may send Cover Letter, Resume and 3 references to ljensen@texaszoo.org Please be sure to put the kind of internship/s you are applying for in the subject line of the email.