zoo educator
Zoo educators teach visitors about the animals living at the zoo/aquarium as well as other species and habitats. They provide information about management of zoos, its collection of animals, and wildlife conservation. Zoo educators can be involved in both formal and informal learning opportunities ranging from production of information signs at enclosures to delivering classroom sessions linked to school or university curricula. Depending on the size of the organisation the education team may be a single person or a large team. Consequently the optional skills required are very broad and will vary from organisation to organisation. Zoo educators also promote conservation efforts. This can involve work within the zoo but also in the field as part of any zoo outreach project(s).
zoo educator zoo educators teach visitors about the animals living at the zoo/aquarium as well as other species and habitats. They provide information about management of zoos, its collection of animals, and wildlife conservation. 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 animal evolution, zoo community, applied zoology, coordinate events, build community relations.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £26,656 a year for Leisure and travel service occupations n.e.c. (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 6219). ONS rates this estimate acceptable: it rests on a small sample, so treat it as a rough guide. 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 zoo educator, 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
Frequently asked questions
What does zoo educator do?
Zoo educators teach visitors about the animals living at the zoo/aquarium as well as other species and habitats. They provide information about management of zoos, its collection of animals, and wildlife conservation. Zoo educators can be involved in both formal and informal learning opportunities ranging from production of information signs at enclosures to delivering classroom sessions linked to school or university curricula.
What skills does zoo educator need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include animal evolution, zoo community, applied zoology, coordinate events, build community relations, develop educational resources. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace zoo educator?
Our AI-durability model gives zoo educator 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.