Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden
Animal Ambassador Team
Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, 45208
Overview
This year, we’re celebrating the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden’s 150th anniversary! Thank you for your interest in Zoo employment and career opportunities, including AmeriCorps. If you share these Core Values, we want to hear from you. By checking this site often, you can learn more about the Zoo and what we have to offer. Search jobs and careers at the Zoo below! Join the Team
The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden is an equal opportunity employer and accepts employment applications and/or resumes for current open positions only. Available Positions: Food and Retail Who are we? SSA is built by family, for families. SSA is now hiring fun, energetic, silly, optimistic and outgoing people to add to our team. The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden Intern Program provides participants with early career experience in a specific department. Interns gain valuable skills through hands-on training with staff, attending lectures and continuing education courses presented by staff from various departments, and networking opportunities to develop professional contacts throughout the Zoo community. Qualifications and Internships
QUALIFICATIONS The ideal intern candidate will meet the following requirements: Be 18 or over and interested in pursuing a career in the zoological or botanical field; hard-working, highly motivated, professional, and committed to following detailed instructions; positively approach team-based, collaborative working environments and engaging with visitors; comfortable working with and/or handling many different species encompassing all taxa of animals; and full availability to work the entire intern session and days required. Working Conditions Schedule & Commitment Roles within the zoological/botanical field are often physical in nature and require a lot of outdoors time and certain health conditions to be met: Regular standing for long periods, walking, climbing, balancing, and grasping tools or objects Exposure to outdoor weather conditions (heat, humidity, rain, snow, cold temperatures) Must be able to lift & move 50 lbs without mechanical assistance Internship is conditional upon passing a pre-start drug & nicotine screen Must provide a negative TB Test result before beginning internship Applicants must provide proof of current medical insurance & maintain insurance for the duration of the internship If applicable to your department, COVID vaccination may be required. Internships are 14 weeks and typically follow a full-time workweek pattern: 4-5 consecutive days per week, ~8 hours per day, generally from 7-8 am to 3-4 pm. The Zoo is open 364 days a year, so your schedule may include weekend and holiday work. The department supervisor sets final schedules. All interns are expected to commit to the full internship session from start to finish, with minimal to no additional vacation time outside of regular days off. Accepted interns also must attend a mandatory orientation session scheduled at the start of each internship session. With such a limited period for experiential learning and our Zoo staff’s commitment to intern development, we expect all selected interns to hold the same level of commitment. If you anticipate needing a lot of time off or can’t commit to the full session, please apply to a different term that works better for your needs. The internship program provides a living stipend of $3,000 per full 14-week internship term to offset the cost-of-living expenses incurred while participating in the internship learning experience. If interns do not complete the expected hours/days within the session, stipend compensation may be adjusted to reflect as such. To apply for an internship, qualified applicants can apply via our online application. Be prepared to provide the following documents and information with your application: Cover letter and resume (PDF format required) Contact information for one professional reference Applicants are welcome to apply to more than one internship opportunity per session during the application period. To do so, complete a separate application per opportunity by clicking on the specific link within each description. Intern applicants can only be accepted for one opportunity per session. NOTE: Individuals may only do a total maximum of TWO internship sessions (in different departments) at the Zoo. Winter Internship Session:
mid-January through end of April. Applications are accepted from September 15, 2025 – November 15, 2025. Decisions: No later than December 1, 2025 Mandatory Orientation January 5, 2026 End of Internship: April 12, 2026 Summer Internship Session:
mid-May through mid-August. Applications are accepted from January 1, 2026 – February 15, 2026. Decisions: No later than March 15, 2026 Mandatory Orientation May 11, 2026 End of Internship: August 16, 2026 Fall Internship Session:
mid-September through mid-December. Applications are accepted from May 1, 2026 – June 15, 2026 Decisions: No later than July 15, 2026 Mandatory Orientation September 14, 2026 End of Internship: December 20, 2026 Exact start and end dates are noted in each department’s internship description. If an internship listed does not have an “Apply Here” link, the internship is unavailable for the current session, please check back during the next application period. This voluntary internship program provides qualified individuals with professional experience in the daily care of the department’s animals and the opportunity to support animal care staff. Africa department interns are supervised by animal care staff within the department. The main role of interns is to work with animal care staff to keep areas clean, thus helping contribute to the welfare of the animals. Cleaning, maintaining our various habitats, and behind-the-scenes holding areas may include: raking and shoveling, moving heavy wheelbarrows, lifting hay bales, hosing and scrubbing, etc. Other duties include preparing daily food diets such as cutting and weighing out produce and meat diets and helping maintain behind-the-scenes keeper spaces as well. Interns will have the opportunity to observe animal training sessions and various forms of routine husbandry including: giraffe foot care, blood draw and injection training with a variety of species, bird capture and restraint for wing trims and beak coping, and the management of recently expanded hippo bloat.
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This year, we’re celebrating the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden’s 150th anniversary! Thank you for your interest in Zoo employment and career opportunities, including AmeriCorps. If you share these Core Values, we want to hear from you. By checking this site often, you can learn more about the Zoo and what we have to offer. Search jobs and careers at the Zoo below! Join the Team
The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden is an equal opportunity employer and accepts employment applications and/or resumes for current open positions only. Available Positions: Food and Retail Who are we? SSA is built by family, for families. SSA is now hiring fun, energetic, silly, optimistic and outgoing people to add to our team. The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden Intern Program provides participants with early career experience in a specific department. Interns gain valuable skills through hands-on training with staff, attending lectures and continuing education courses presented by staff from various departments, and networking opportunities to develop professional contacts throughout the Zoo community. Qualifications and Internships
QUALIFICATIONS The ideal intern candidate will meet the following requirements: Be 18 or over and interested in pursuing a career in the zoological or botanical field; hard-working, highly motivated, professional, and committed to following detailed instructions; positively approach team-based, collaborative working environments and engaging with visitors; comfortable working with and/or handling many different species encompassing all taxa of animals; and full availability to work the entire intern session and days required. Working Conditions Schedule & Commitment Roles within the zoological/botanical field are often physical in nature and require a lot of outdoors time and certain health conditions to be met: Regular standing for long periods, walking, climbing, balancing, and grasping tools or objects Exposure to outdoor weather conditions (heat, humidity, rain, snow, cold temperatures) Must be able to lift & move 50 lbs without mechanical assistance Internship is conditional upon passing a pre-start drug & nicotine screen Must provide a negative TB Test result before beginning internship Applicants must provide proof of current medical insurance & maintain insurance for the duration of the internship If applicable to your department, COVID vaccination may be required. Internships are 14 weeks and typically follow a full-time workweek pattern: 4-5 consecutive days per week, ~8 hours per day, generally from 7-8 am to 3-4 pm. The Zoo is open 364 days a year, so your schedule may include weekend and holiday work. The department supervisor sets final schedules. All interns are expected to commit to the full internship session from start to finish, with minimal to no additional vacation time outside of regular days off. Accepted interns also must attend a mandatory orientation session scheduled at the start of each internship session. With such a limited period for experiential learning and our Zoo staff’s commitment to intern development, we expect all selected interns to hold the same level of commitment. If you anticipate needing a lot of time off or can’t commit to the full session, please apply to a different term that works better for your needs. The internship program provides a living stipend of $3,000 per full 14-week internship term to offset the cost-of-living expenses incurred while participating in the internship learning experience. If interns do not complete the expected hours/days within the session, stipend compensation may be adjusted to reflect as such. To apply for an internship, qualified applicants can apply via our online application. Be prepared to provide the following documents and information with your application: Cover letter and resume (PDF format required) Contact information for one professional reference Applicants are welcome to apply to more than one internship opportunity per session during the application period. To do so, complete a separate application per opportunity by clicking on the specific link within each description. Intern applicants can only be accepted for one opportunity per session. NOTE: Individuals may only do a total maximum of TWO internship sessions (in different departments) at the Zoo. Winter Internship Session:
mid-January through end of April. Applications are accepted from September 15, 2025 – November 15, 2025. Decisions: No later than December 1, 2025 Mandatory Orientation January 5, 2026 End of Internship: April 12, 2026 Summer Internship Session:
mid-May through mid-August. Applications are accepted from January 1, 2026 – February 15, 2026. Decisions: No later than March 15, 2026 Mandatory Orientation May 11, 2026 End of Internship: August 16, 2026 Fall Internship Session:
mid-September through mid-December. Applications are accepted from May 1, 2026 – June 15, 2026 Decisions: No later than July 15, 2026 Mandatory Orientation September 14, 2026 End of Internship: December 20, 2026 Exact start and end dates are noted in each department’s internship description. If an internship listed does not have an “Apply Here” link, the internship is unavailable for the current session, please check back during the next application period. This voluntary internship program provides qualified individuals with professional experience in the daily care of the department’s animals and the opportunity to support animal care staff. Africa department interns are supervised by animal care staff within the department. The main role of interns is to work with animal care staff to keep areas clean, thus helping contribute to the welfare of the animals. Cleaning, maintaining our various habitats, and behind-the-scenes holding areas may include: raking and shoveling, moving heavy wheelbarrows, lifting hay bales, hosing and scrubbing, etc. Other duties include preparing daily food diets such as cutting and weighing out produce and meat diets and helping maintain behind-the-scenes keeper spaces as well. Interns will have the opportunity to observe animal training sessions and various forms of routine husbandry including: giraffe foot care, blood draw and injection training with a variety of species, bird capture and restraint for wing trims and beak coping, and the management of recently expanded hippo bloat.
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