animal handler
Animal handlers are in charge of handling animals in a working role and continue the training of the animal, in accordance with national legislation.
animal handler animal handlers are in charge of handling animals in a working role and continue the training of the animal, in accordance with national legislation. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.50 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include biosecurity related to animals, signs of animal illness, animal welfare legislation, animal welfare, physiology of animals.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £25,067 a year for Animal care services occupations n.e.c. (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
Middle half of full-time jobs: £22,826 to £27,865 a year
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 6129). ONS rates this estimate precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Service and sales workers” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only animal handler, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 5. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Customer and Personal Service
- Education and Training
- Psychology
- Administration and Management
- English Language
- Sales and Marketing
- Administrative
- Personnel and Human Resources
What you'd actually do
- Cue or signal animals during performances.
- Talk to or interact with animals to familiarize them to human voices or contact.
- Conduct training programs to develop or maintain desired animal behaviors for competition, entertainment, obedience, security, riding, or related purposes.
- Feed or exercise animals or provide other general care, such as cleaning or maintaining holding or performance areas.
- Observe animals' physical conditions to detect illness or unhealthy conditions requiring medical care.
- Evaluate animals to determine their temperaments, abilities, or aptitude for training.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does animal handler do?
Animal handlers are in charge of handling animals in a working role and continue the training of the animal, in accordance with national legislation.
What skills does animal handler need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include biosecurity related to animals, signs of animal illness, animal welfare legislation, animal welfare, physiology of animals, environmental enrichment for animals. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace animal handler?
Our AI-durability model gives animal handler a score of 0.50 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.