Animal Care Internships
Animal Care Internships
Lehigh Valley Zoo’s mission is to connects its community with nature to empower people to protect wildlife. The Lehigh Valley Zoo is offering 3 unique opportunities to participate in an unpaid Ambassador Animal Keeper internship, an unpaid Domestic Hoofstock and Commissary Keeper internship and an unpaid African Hoofstock Animal Keeper internship. Applicants’ internship preference will be taken into consideration however, qualified applicants may be assigned to any one of the three internship opportunities.
Ambassador Animal Internship
Ambassador Animal Internship
- During this internship, interns will experience the day-to-day husbandry of our ambassador population which includes a variety of mammals, birds and herps.
The internship is designed to provide students the opportunity to learn the following:
- Proper animal handling techniques
- Assisting with daily husbandry of a variety of species
- Exhibit and animal safety
- Proper nutrition and diet preparation
- The fundamentals of modern animal training techniques (by observation)
- Basics of animal behavior and evaluating behavior.
- Maintaining of animal exhibits and holding areas according to AZA and USDA regulations
- Assisting with record keeping
- Implementing, and evaluating enrichment
- Public speaking skills through keeper chats and public animal demonstrations
- Gaining knowledge of zoo wide emergency procedures
- How to work cooperatively in a team environment
Domestic Hoofstock and Commissary Internship
During this internship, interns will experience the day-to-day husbandry of our barnyard area which includes: Alpacas, sheep, goats, chickens etc.The internship is designed to provide students the opportunity to learn the following:
- Proper animal handling techniques
- Assisting in the commissary
- Assisting with daily husbandry of a variety of species
- Exhibit and animal safety
- Proper nutrition and diet preparation
- The fundamentals of modern animal training techniques (by observation)
- Basics of animal behavior and evaluating behavior using ethograms
- Maintaining of animal exhibits and holding areas according to AZA and USDA regulations
- Assisting with record keeping
- Implementing, and evaluating enrichment
- Public speaking skills through keeper chats and public interaction
- Gaining knowledge of zoo wide emergency procedures
- How to work cooperatively in a team environment
African Hoofstock Internship
During this internship, interns will experience the day-to-day husbandry of our hoofstock population which includes: Eland, scimitar-horned oryx, aoudad, Bison and giraffeThe internship is designed to provide students the opportunity to learn the following:
- Assisting with daily husbandry of a variety of species
- Exhibit and animal safety
- Proper nutrition and diet preparation
- The fundamentals of modern animal training techniques (by observation)
- Basics of animal behavior and evaluating behavior
- Maintaining of animal exhibits and holding areas according to AZA and USDA regulations
- Assisting with record keeping
- Implementing, and evaluating enrichment
- Public speaking skills through keeper chats and public interaction
- Gaining knowledge of zoo wide emergency procedures
- How to work cooperatively in a team environment
Physical demands and work environment:
Physical Demands: Employee must lift and/or move up to 50 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 75 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus. The employee must be able to drive Zoo vehicles.
Qualifications:
Qualified applicants must have completed at least one year of college or have graduated within the last year. Preferred candidates will have or be working towards a degree in biology, zoology, animal behavior, or any other related field. Applicants should show strong observation and communication skills, an ability to work alone or in a group, an ability to think creatively and show critical thinking and good problem-solving skills.
All interns will be expected to work a ten hour day of 7am to 5:30pm and complete the minimum hour requirement for their session. Interns may also receive course credit for the internship from their respective institutes as arranged by the student and intern coordinator.
Duration of Internships
The Lehigh Valley Zoo offers internships throughout the year. The duration is determined by the intern coordinator, start and end dates are flexible but must be approved in advance.
Typical intern sessions:
- Summer internships (stipend): Four days a week, mid-May through mid-August.(Stipend provided for 12 weeks minimum)
- Fall internships:
- One day to three days a week, end of August through December. (15 weeks minimum)
- Spring internships:
- One to three day a week, end of January through May. (15 weeks minimum)
Transparency in Coverage
This link leads to the machine-readable files that are made available in response to the federal Transparency in Coverage Rule and includes negotiated service rates and out-of-network allowed amounts between health plans and healthcare providers. The machine-readable files are formatted to allow researchers, regulators, and application developers to access and analyze data more easily.
- Capital Blue Cross: Machine-Readable Files (MRF)