Enrichment and Animal Wellbeing Internship

Reports to: Curator of Behavioral Husbandry & Wellbeing

Schedule: Tuesday-Saturday, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM

                                4-month or 6-month position

Application Deadline: January 31st, 2025

Internship Overview:

This internship is designed for college students or recent graduates interested in pursuing a career in zoo keeping, animal behavior, animal welfare, enrichment or behavioral research. Interns will work directly with the Curator of Behavioral Husbandry and Wellbeing, Enrichment Program Manager, and animal keepers to learn the principles of environmental enrichment, animal training, animal wellbeing, and behavioral research. This will be accomplished through hands-on enrichment activities, animal observations, participating in training sessions and attending workshops. This internship will focus on the development and implementation of enrichment for various zoo animals, as well as research to evaluate behavioral scenarios and the effectiveness of enrichment. Interns will further learn principles of animal training through workshops, discussions, and participation in training sessions. Interns will design and implement a behavioral research project and analyze and disseminate the data to the appropriate animal care staff. The intern will also assist with other projects throughout the zoo, including animal well-being assessments, animal exhibit enrichment setup, development of new enrichment ideas, and possibly interpretation of enrichment and training sessions.

This is a paid Internship. 

Primary Responsibilities:

• Develop, coordinate and implement daily enrichment for several species in the zoo
• Construct, implement, and evaluate new enrichment devices 
• Conduct behavioral observations
• Data entry and analysis
• Assist keepers in setting up exhibits to offer dynamic complex experiences for the animals 
• Participate in animal training sessions

Minimum Requirements:

• Junior or Senior in college or recent graduate
• Major in Biology, Animal Behavior, Psychology, Zoology or other related field
• Strong willingness to learn, positive attitude, team mentality
• Previous hands-on work with animals 
• Proficiency with Microsoft Excel preferred
• The Toledo Zoo is a drug-free workplace, including marijuana

The Toledo Zoo is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, creed, genetic information, sex, age, national origin, disability, military status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by law.