Working with animals, learning a lot about conservation
What I wish was different
Elephant department is extremely hard to work in. Elephant staff is very chatty and cliquey. Intern house is disgusting.
Advice
Spend the extra money and find your own housing.
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Animal Education Intern
May - August 2021 • Winston, OR
What I liked
SUPER hands on. We flew solo after we were cleared.
What I wish was different
Advice
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Booths
July - September 2021 • Winston, OR
What I liked
Coworkers are awesome people including my superiors. Work itself haves some activity and rarely taxing. A lot of standing and walking is about it. Yet there is still some downtime to relax. The atmosphere is a vary lively place. Also nice to be outside a lot too.
What I wish was different
This is more of a downside since not much can really be done about it. With how busy weekends are it can get a little overwhelming just being a fast pasted environment. And there are some low IQ people you have to deal with. Working with foreigners can also be an added challenge if they don't speak English very well. Lastly, AC is limited so it will get hot at times.
Advice
Best to be a people person and have some flexibility in scheduling. If you know Spanish and/or Hindi that can be useful.
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Booth Worker
June - September 2020 • Winston, OR
What I liked
Working with the animals
What I wish was different
Management drama
Advice
Make sure to be patient with the customers. They may be just as frustrated and tired as you are.
Also, bring sunscreen and sunglasses!
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Zookeeper Intern
June - September 2018 • Winston, OR
What I liked
I loved working with all sorts of animals from deer to rhinos and giraffes.
What I wish was different
I wish there was more time in the day to spend with training and hands on with animals. For the most part, cleaning up after them took up 8 hour days.
Advice
The first week is brutal. You will be tired and smelly and bruised. But you get the hang of it quickly.
