Pros
Animals are cute and many of my co-workers were nice
Cons
Do not bother working at this place if you are looking for a healthy, professional, or reputable work environment. In my experience, staff were not treated with respect, and management seemed to believe they could control your entire schedule the moment you started working there. Schedules were regularly changed without adequate notice, new hires were expected to work weekend shifts indefinitely, and staff could be yelled at in front of guests. New employees were often treated like outsiders rather than trained, supported, or integrated into the team. Even more concerning, staff were placed in situations that raised serious safety and biosecurity concerns, including potential exposure to zoonotic bacteria without being properly informed or prepared. That alone should be a major red flag for anyone hoping to build a serious career in animal care, conservation, zoo/aquarium work, or biology-related fields. If the way employees are treated does not make you want to avoid this place, the way management handles animal husbandry and daily care should. In my experience, staff were regularly discouraged from cleaning enclosures because there was “not enough time” or because it was supposedly “not needed right now,” even when animals were visibly sitting in their own waste. Basic sanitation, biosecurity, and animal care standards were treated as optional rather than essential. If you value your long-term career and want to pursue more reputable or professionally rigorous opportunities in the future, this is not the place to start. You will not learn appropriate biosecurity standards, you will regularly have to fight management to provide a basic level of care, and you may be put in situations where you are expected to compromise your own professional judgment just to keep operations running. This may seem like an opportunity to gain animal care experience, but the habits, standards, and expectations you learn early in your career matter. This environment does not provide the training, mentorship, professionalism, or accountability needed to prepare employees for stronger institutions. I would strongly caution anyone serious about animal care or conservation against pursuing an opportunity here.