Bronx Zoo Wildlife Theater Performer
Job Title: Wildlife Theater Performer
Location: Bronx Zoo
Department: Education
Reports to: Manager of Live Interpretation
Type: Seasonal
Pay rate: $21 per hour; returning performers are eligible for a higher hourlyrate, which increases based on years of service, up to a maximum of three years
Schedule:
Duration of role: May 2026-January 2027
Rehearsals: May 3- May 17
Performances: Daily, May 18- September 7
Performers can expect to work an average of 2-4 days a week based on individual availability and program needs. The typical shift time is approximately 10am-5:30pm
Rehearsals: September 12-September 25
Performances: Weekends, September 26-November 1
Performers can expect to work an average of 1 shift per week for this shorter season. The typical shift time is approximately 10am-4pm
Rehearsals: November 2-November 16
Performances: Evenings, November 17-January 3
Performers can expect to work 3-4 days a week for the season. The typical shift time is approximately 3-9pm
Typical shift length is 5-7 hour
Holiday and weekend availability mandatory
Must be available for all rehearsal dates prior to the launch of each season
Position Summary
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is seeking talented performers to work in a part-time, seasonal capacity as a valued member of the Education Department at the Bronx Zoo. Our Wildlife Theater program inspires participants to learn and care more about animals and the natural world through storytelling, original music and song, puppets, and dancing. You will reach thousands of zoo visitors through thematic wildlife-oriented performances and activities scheduled throughout the day. This is a great opportunity for those interested in seeking to practice theater techniques and learn more about informal environmental education. Bilingual actors with Spanish language fluency are strongly encouraged to apply.
Who We Are
WCS saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature. To achieve this, we harness the power of our Global Conservation Program in nearly 60 nations, in all the world's oceans, and our five wildlife parks in New York City - Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, and New York Aquarium - visited by 4 million people annually. We combine our expertise in the field, zoos, and aquarium to achieve our conservation mission. WCS Education is a pioneer in zoo-based learning, inspiring over 1.5 million people each year across New York City. Since 1929, we have been at the forefront of science education, fostering the next generation of conservation advocates by creating meaningful connections to wildlife and nature. We provide innovative, high-quality learning experiences that empower individuals to care for and protect the natural world. The Live Interpretation team, within the Education Department, is seeking energetic individuals with experience in theater, dance, and customer service to educate wildlife.
Primary Responsibilities
Perform as a costumed, non-verbal, full-body mascot character
Appropriately represent characters featured in PBS Kid's animated series Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood
Perform dances, skits, and routines; engage with guests during photo ops and meet & greets; and maintain costume & equipment
This role requires high energy, expressive body language, and endurance to manipulate a large costume while working in high-temperatures and physically demanding conditions
Attend rehearsal dates and learn multiple shows in a quick period
Perform utilizing acting, singing, and puppets in outdoor spaces across varying weather conditions
Setup, reset, and breakdown stage and sound equipment throughout the day
Maintain sound equipment, props, costumes, puppets, and other materials
Work with various teams and departments across WCS to ensure programming is high quality, effective, and safe
Be a friendly face in the park for visitors between performances to provide frontline customer service and wayfinding assistance
Implement interpretation best-practices to help visitors make connections between exhibits, wildlife conservation, and their daily lives
Support zoo events and other education programming
Utilize multiple languages, sometimes taught phonetically, in performances
Participate in the upkeep of a fun and lively learning environment
BZ Wildlife Theater Performer
Wildlife Conservation Society · Bronx, NY, USA ·
- Pay:
- $5-$7/hr
- Job type:
- Seasonal
About Wildlife Conservation Society
About OWR:
Created in 1992, the OWR, at just under 14,000km2, is the single largest protected tract of intact lowland tropical forest remaining in the Africa. OWR is situated in the larger Ituri landscape, comprising more than 40,000km2 of contiguous forests. The Ituri forests are home to the a rich diversity of peoples and the global significance of ecosystem services and biodiversity of the area and the OWR in particular is widely recognised. The OWR was inscribed on the list of Natural World Heritage Sites in 1996, and the OWR is also listed as a Key Biodiversity Area.
Under the auspices of a ten-year management agreement between the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN) that delegates the management of the reserve to WCS, the OWR management will contribute to the long-term goal of bringing peace and well-being to the people indigenous to the forests of the Okapi Wildlife Reserve while ensuring that the forests are intact, healthy and full of life, and the rivers are clean and flowing. This will be achieved by implementing solutions that will overcome the root causes to the threats to biodiversity, ecosystem services and ecological processes, and also to overcome the barriers to an effectively managed reserve. The program does this in exceptionally challenging circumstances: the Okapi Wildlife Reserve is a large area of lowland, tropical rainforest in an area of the world renowned for its insecurity, and weak governance and institutions. The program will achieve its goal and outcomes through four pillars of activity: 1) Improved security and reduced criminality through developed capacity; 2) Improved management effectiveness through developed capacity and operationalisation of the management agreement; 3) Improved well-being of rights-holding people – through a multi-pronged approach including: well managed access to and use of natural resources, strengthened institutions and institutional capacity, efficient and effective partnerships, economic development that functions within an environmentally and socially sound framework; and 4) Sustainable financing of the management, operation and development of the reserve achieved through a suite of innovative and traditional financing mechanisms and tools.
About WCS:
The Wildlife Conservation Society is an international NGO headquartered at Bronx Zoo in New York City working to save wildlife and wild lands and to meet global challenges in over 50 countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas and the world’s oceans. The Africa Program is the largest of WCS’s field programs, with approximately 1,100 staff in 12 country programs focused across four major regions (Central Africa, Sudano-Sahel, East and Southern Africa, and Madagascar and Western Indian Ocean). Our MISSION is to save wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education and inspiring people to value nature. Our VISION is a world where wildlife thrives in healthy lands and seas valued by societies that embrace and benefit from the diversity and integrity of life on earth. Our GOAL is to conserve the world’s largest wild places in 16 priority regions, home to more than 50% of the world’s biodiversity. Our VALUES are Respect, Accountability and Transparency, Innovation, Diversity and Inclusion, Collaboration, Integrity.