Shadow a zookeeper for a day

and discover the in-depth secrets of looking after your favourite animals.
It’s one thing visiting a zoo or spending the day at a wildlife park. But quite a different proposition shadowing a zoo keeper for the day and getting to really understand the wild animals that are kept there.

So if you are really into wildlife and want to see inside the private world of an animal keeper, then you can’t do better than enjoy one of these in-depth animal experiences.

What “zoo keeper for a day” experiences are there?

There are quite a few of these at wildlife parks and zoos as far apart as Dartmoor, London and Broxbourne in Hertfordshire. So to save you scouring the net we’ve brought them all together in one place here with prices updated in real time, so you can check out what’s available, compare prices of the different experience companies marketing them, and know that you are getting the best deal possible. And as “shadow a keeper” experiences come and go, this page will automatically keep up to date so you know that it’s all here.

Zookeeper for a day review

The details vary from one zoo or wildlife park to another, so you need to check out the one you fancy and read the detail on the provider’s site. But in essence, you spend a whole working day with one of the keepers as he (or she) goes about his job.
This means that you go behind the scenes and see aspects of the animals that you wouldn’t see as a normal visitor to the zoo.
There’s food preparation, feeding, animal welfare, cleaning of the enclosure involved – in fact everything that the keepers do in their daily life. And you normally get up close and personal with the animals to a much greater extent than you could otherwise do.

These experiences will normally give you exposure to a wide range of animals, but if you want to get close to specific animals such as big cats or monkeys, then check out our other pages where we have the latest offers on these too.

Wear old clothes, as this is a working experience, and you wouldn’t see the keepers going into work in Armani suits, would you? And even though much of the work seems unglamorous, you’ll find it very rewarding and the insight it will give you into the lives of the feathered and furry guys who live there will be second to none.

Shadow a keeper for a gift experience

Some of the people who’ve got in touch to tell us how much they enjoyed shadowing a keeper for a day have not bought it for themselves, but received it as a gift for a birthday or Christmas present. So bear one of these in mind when you’re looking for unusual gift ideas and don’t want to be giving yet another sweater, pair of socks, DVD or piece of electronics.
Imagine the pleasure it will give, and the memories of it will certainly be treasured long after any traditional presents have broken, worn out or been discarded!