Zoo Management

Would you love an exciting and rewarding career in the zoo industry? At UCR you benefit from a unique combination of academic study with industry focused training in the management of zoo animals.

The FdSc Zoo Management course includes career-focused modules such as captive breeding and record keeping, zoo animal training and animal health and disease, plus you will have extensive access to our wide range of exotic species including primates, small carnivores, reptiles, amphibians and birds of prey.

Our Zoo Management lecturers have many years of experience working in the diversity of roles zoos can offer, and they bring this passion and knowledge to the classroom.

After studying our foundation degree, you can progress onto our Zoo Management top-up, which is an opportunity for zoo biologists and animal scientists to explore more specialist modules within zoos and conservation. These include zoo enclosure design, conservation education and animal enrichment.

Course Features

• Access to our on-site zoo, home to over 1,000 animals and 150 species including ring-tailed lemurs, porcupines, marmosets, otters, capybaras, owls, bearded dragons, kingsnakes, dart frogs, marine fish and much more

• Volunteer staff opportunities at our on-site zoo

• Directly transferable skills such as exotic animal husbandry, zoo nutrition, conservation education and use of the ZIMS (Zoological Information Management Systems) software

• The opportunity to engage in overseas field courses to a range of localities including Kenya and Europe

Career Options

• Zookeeper

• Curator

• Conservation biologist

• Registrar

• Conservation education or outreach officer

• Animal consultancy

• Scientific research

Level 4
• Introduction to Scientific Communication
• Animal Husbandry and Handling
• Zoos and Conservation
• Animal Anatomy and Physiology
• Evolution and Adaptation
• Introduction to Animal Behaviour

Level 5
• Experiential Learning
• Research Methods
• Zoo Animal Nutrition
• Captive Breeding and Record Keeping
• Zoo Animal Training
• Zoo Animal Welfare*
• Animal Health and Disease*

*Denotes optional modules

We design a wide range of assessments that will help you to develop industry standard skills and knowledge. In your first year, the assessments consist of a combination on timed online assessments, of multiple-choice questions and short essays, practical assessments and presentations and written coursework. This written coursework can be in the form of reports, essays or posters, depending on the module. For Husbandry and Handling, there are assessed practical sessions, reflections and talks. For
Introduction to Scientific Communications, there are quizzes based on the application of statistical software.

In your second year, there will be some variation, depending on the optional modules chosen, but there will again be a combination of timed online assessments and written coursework. This coursework may take the form of a report using the ZIMS (Zoological Information Management System) software, or be based on laboratory practical sessions. For Experiential Learning or Work-based Learning, you will be creating a reflective portfolio, while for Research Methods, you will be writing a proposal and using statistical software to analyse data.