Animal Care Internship and Shadowing at the Racine Zoo
Abstract
During the summer of 2021, I dedicated much of my time working at
the Racine Zoo as an animal care intern. I chose to do this internship
in order to widen my experience with all types of animals in
anticipation for vet school and to see if exotic vet medicine was a
field that I would want to pursue. In this position, I was granted the
opportunity to observe, and then later mimic, the daily tasks and skill
sets of most of the zookeepers employed there. The program they
have established is constructed in a way that allows for interns to
receive thorough training and experience in all animal routines. This
is different and exceptional to most other animal care internships in
which interns only work with one species or with a limited number of
species at the zoo. Not only was I taught how to care for both exotic
and domesticated animals at the level of a zookeeper, but in some
instances, at the level of a veterinarian as well. Having had this
opportunity has given me incredible insight into the field and has
helped me to understand more about myself and my future career
path.