Zoo Employment/Volunteer Opportunities
Employment - various opportunities exist including full time, part time, and seasonal positions in the following departments: animal care; animal health; education; maintenance; visitor services. Resumes for full and part time positions can be sent to the zoo at any time and will be held on file for a minimum of 1 year. Resumes or letters of inquiry regarding seasonal positions should be sent to the zoo beginning in January. Most seasonal positions are filled by early April.
Animal care volunteers - volunteers in animal care are very limited. Interest in animal care volunteer opportunities should be sent in writing to the attention of the Zoo Supervisor.
Education volunteers - education volunteers, or Docents, are specially trained volunteers in the Bergen County Zoo's Education Department. Docents enhance the activities provided by the Education Department and through these activities support the zoo's mission of education, conservation, research, and recreation. We currently have two categories of docents at the Bergen County Zoo. The following is a brief description of the duties and time commitment for each category.
Zoo Docents: Zoo Docents walk around the zoo and/or set up artifact stations and answer visitors' questions about the zoo, its animals, and conservation. They engage visitors by using related artifacts, such as skulls, fur samples, eggs, feathers, etc. Zoo Docents also assist with public events (represent the zoo at fairs, festivals, etc.,) and special 'members only' events. Zoo Docents must be comfortable speaking to people of all ages and backgrounds individually, in small groups, and in larger groups (up to 30 people.) Zoo Docents volunteer for a set weekly shift of 3 hours (i.e. Saturday afternoons.) Shifts are available 7 days/week. The morning shift is 10am-1pm. The afternoon shift is 1pm-4pm.
Animal Encounters Docents: Work with another Animal Encounters Docent to take a small animal to a local nursing home (in Bergen County) to enrich the lives of the residents. Animal Encounters Docents are trained to handle small animals (turtle, hedgehog, lizard, ferret, rabbit, chicken, chinchilla) and share information about those animals. Animal Encounters Docents volunteer once per month, on the same "day" each month (i.e. the 2nd Thursday of the month.) Shifts are available Monday-Friday only, in the morning and afternoon (shifts typically last 2-3 hours.) Must be able to provide own transportation from the zoo to the nursing home.
Training for either the Zoo Docent Program or the Animal Encounters Program is held annually. Please call (201) 262-3771 x124 for more information and to be notified of upcoming volunteer training sessions.
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