How much do zoo keepers make?
A zookeeper’s pay is generally quite poor – I used to be a zookeeper, and earned minimum wage, which at the time was about £10,000 per year (about 20,000 US dollars). You will probably earn slightly more now, but zookeeping is not a well-paid job and wages are always at the low end of the scale, at least in the UK. You cannot afford to buy or rent a place of your own on a zookeeper’s salary – you have to share with house-mates or a partner. Many people want to work with animals, so they don’t need to tempt workers with high pay. (This is one reason why many people with degrees don’t want to be zookeepers – having spent years studying, they want to earn better than minimum wage). The hours are long and you may not be paid for any overtime worked – in the zoo I worked at, you were paid only between 8am and 5pm, even if you arrived at 6.30am and didn’t leave til 7pm. You are also required to work weekends and public holidays without additional pay, and the most time off you’ll ever have i
