Good Questions to Ask a Zoo Keeper

All 104 questions

Good ones to start with 20

How did you become a zoo keeper? I volunteered on weekends, then studied biology.
How do you give an animal something new to do? Hide its food, change the branches, bring in a new smell.
What do the animals do when the zoo is closed? Much the same, with fewer naps interrupted.
What do visitors ask you every single day? "Is it asleep or is it bored?" Usually asleep.
What do visitors never see a keeper do? Chop a mountain of vegetables before nine.
What do you write down about each animal every day? What it ate, how it moved and anything unusual.
What does a keeper carry all day? A radio, keys, a notebook and a pocket of treats.
What is the first thing a keeper does in the morning? Count everyone and look each animal over.
What is the messiest part of a keeper's job? Cleaning the hippo pool. Nothing compares.
What is your favorite time of day at the zoo? Just after opening, when our lions are still awake.
What tells you an animal is having an off day? It eats slower, or stands apart from the others.

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Good ones to start with, continued

What would you put on a sign at the gate for every visitor? "The animals can hear you. Quiet voices see more."
Which animal has outsmarted a keeper? The crows in our aviary. They opened the puzzle box before I did.
Which animal has the biggest personality? A goat who thinks she runs the barn.
Which animal is the hardest to look after, and why? Our tiny frogs. Everything about their tank must be exact.
Which animal makes you laugh most? A penguin who steals the others' pebbles.
Which animal recognizes you, and how do you know? The otters squeak when they hear my keys.
Which animal took the longest to trust you? An owl. Eight months before she would step onto the glove.
Which animals do you look after, and how many are there? Four giraffes, two zebras and a loud flock of guinea fowl.
Which keeper skill did nobody warn you about? Weighing a snake.

Feeding time 14

How do you feed an animal you cannot go in with? I set the food out while it waits next door.
How do you hide food to make a meal last longer? Inside logs, under straw, in a ball with holes.
How do you know how much food each animal needs? A diet sheet for every one, and the kitchen scale.
What does feeding time sound like? Squeaks, grunts and one seal who claps.
What food is a treat, and who gets it? Frozen fruit pops for the bears on hot days.
What happens if an animal skips a meal? I write it down, and tell the vet if it happens twice.
What is in the zoo kitchen? Crates of greens, a wall of fridges and many knives.
What is the strangest thing on the zoo's shopping list? Ten thousand crickets.
Where does all the animals' food come from? A truck twice a week, and branches cut from our own trees.
Which animal eats the most in a day? Our elephant. A wheelbarrow of hay is a snack.
Which animal is the fussiest eater? A tortoise who will only take the red lettuce.
Which animals share a bowl, and how does that go? The meerkats. Politely, for about four seconds.
Which meal takes the longest to prepare? The fruit bats' salad. Everything cut as small as a grape.
Who eats first in the morning? The birds. They complain loudest.

The animals 15

Do any of the animals come when they are called? The sea lions. Each one answers to its own name.
Does any animal prefer to be left alone? One swan. We gave him his own pond.
Have you seen your fastest animal run flat out? Our cheetah, once, the length of the paddock in a blink.
How do you tell apart animals of the same kind? Stripes, ear notches and how each one walks.
Is any animal here shy, and where does it hide? The armadillo, under the same log every day.
What was it like when a baby was born at the zoo? The whole team tiptoed for a week.
Which animal arrived most recently, and how is it settling in? A young red panda. She explored for a week, then chose a branch.
Which animal do you greet first each day? The old camel. He expects it.
Which animal does something odd every day, and what is it? A flamingo who always stands on the same leg.
Which animal looks most different up close? The giraffe. From the platform she looks you right in the eye.
Which two animals are best friends? Two old donkeys who nap nose to tail.
Who chooses the animals' names? The keepers suggest, and sometimes visitors vote.
Who is the oldest animal at your zoo? A tortoise older than any of the keepers.
Who is the sleepiest animal here? The sloth. Visitors ask if she is a statue.
Who makes the most noise at your zoo, and at what hour? The gibbons, at dawn. You hear them from the parking lot.

Cleaning and enclosures 13

How do you keep a pool clean for animals that swim? Filters run all day, and we drain and scrub it weekly.
How do you keep the animals warm in winter and cool in summer? Heated dens, deep straw, misters and shade cloth.
How long does it take to clean one enclosure? An hour for the goats. A morning for the rhino yard.
How many gates and locks do you open in a day? Over a hundred. I say the last one out loud.
What do you change in an enclosure to keep it interesting? Branches, ropes, sand piles and where the food is hidden.
What do you check on the fence or the glass each morning? That nothing is loose, cracked or chewed.
What grows in the enclosures, and who looks after it? Grass, bamboo and shade trees. The keepers and a gardener.
What have you found while cleaning that made you smile? A stash of pebbles a raven had been hiding.
What makes an enclosure feel like home to an animal? Places to climb, dig, hide and look out from.
Where do the animals wait while you clean? In the next yard, behind a gate I check twice.
Where does all the manure go? To a compost heap, and then onto the zoo gardens.
Which enclosure is the hardest to keep clean? The aviary. Birds do not aim.
Which tools does a keeper pick up most? A shovel, a rake, a hose and a stiff brush.

Training and checkups 13

Do you train with hand signals or with your voice? Both. A flat hand means stay, for nearly everyone.
How do you get an animal used to something new, like a crate? Leave it open with treats inside, for weeks.
How do you reward an animal for getting it right? A whistle, then a favorite snack.
How do you weigh an animal that will not stand still? It steps on a board for a treat. The board is a scale.
How does the vet get a look at an animal's teeth? Ours open wide on a cue. It took a year to teach.
How long does it take to teach an animal something new? Days for our sea lion. Months for the tortoise.
What can you teach an animal that helps the vet? Our elephant lifts each foot so it can be checked.
What do you do when an animal does not want to take part? Nothing. We try again tomorrow.
What do you look at on your daily check of each animal? Eyes, coat, feet and how it walks.
What does a training session look like? Five minutes, a pouch of treats and a lot of patience.
What is the cleverest thing an animal has worked out alone? A raccoon who learned to turn on the faucet.
Which animal learns fastest? The parrots. They also teach each other mischief.
Who decides what each animal should learn? The keepers and the vet, together.

Interesting ones 13

Have you seen one animal look after another? An old chimp who shares her blanket with the youngest.
How does an animal travel when it moves to another zoo? In a crate built for it, with a keeper it knows.
What do the animals do in the rain or the snow? Our otters love it. The lemurs sulk indoors.
What do you miss about the animals when you are on vacation? The morning greeting from the goats.
What does the zoo sound like before the gates open? The lions first, then the gibbons answer.
What have you learned about people from watching them watch animals? Children look longer than adults do.
What job at the zoo would nobody guess exists? Someone who raises the insects.
What part of zoo keeping has changed most since you started? We train more and guess less.
What smell at the zoo would you know with your eyes shut? The big cat house. Warm and sharp.
Which animal has surprised you most in all your years? A parrot who says my name in my own voice.
Which animal watches the visitors as much as they watch it? The gorilla. He has favorites.
Which holidays do the keepers still work? Every one. The animals take no days off.
Who is awake at the zoo after dark? The night animals, and one keeper walking the paths.

For a zoo trip 16

Can I help feed one? At the goat yard you can, with a keeper beside you.
Do the animals get birthday presents? Yes. A cake made of ice and fruit.
Do the animals know their names? Some do. The sea lions come when called.
Do you get to pet the animals? A few, like the goats. Most I look after without touching.
Do you talk to the animals? All day. They are good listeners.
How do I become a zookeeper? Like animals, like cleaning, and learn all you can.
How tall is the tallest animal here? Our giraffe can look into an upstairs window.
What do the big cats eat? Meat. Ours get a big bone on Sundays.
What do you wear to work, and why? Boots, tough pants and a hat. I am muddy by ten.
What is the funniest thing an animal has done? A monkey wore a food bowl as a hat all afternoon.
Where do the animals sleep? Most of ours sleep indoors, in dens with straw beds.
Which animal is the smelliest? The otters, after a fish lunch.
Which animal is the softest? The chinchilla. Like holding a cloud.
Which animal would you take home if you could? A capybara. Calm, friendly and fond of baths.
Who gives the animals a bath? Most wash themselves. I hose the elephant, and she loves it.
Why is that animal sleeping? It was up early, or it is awake at night instead.

How this list was compiled: Own list, written for this page on 2026-10-09: 104 questions to ask a zoo keeper, in 7 groups, each with one invented example answer that describes an invented zoo and no real zoo, animal or person. Nothing was copied from another site. No question asks about an animal that died, hurt someone or got out, what a keeper earns or where anyone lives, and no answer tells a visitor what to do around an animal. Two lines lean on general facts, read on 2026-10-09 at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zookeeper: a zookeeper's work usually includes feeding and daily care, diet preparation, cleaning enclosures, watching behavior, keeping records, giving the animals new things to do and calling a veterinarian when one is ill or injured, and some keepers give talks to the public; and some keepers train animals to make their care easier, for example an elephant to lift its feet for a veterinarian to check. Licence: own work

How it works

These good questions to ask a zoo keeper get past "what is your favorite animal": which took longest to trust you, which has outsmarted a keeper, what visitors never see. Six more groups run from feeding to a zoo trip.

Read the full guide

Good questions to ask a zookeeper at a keeper talk

The sheet opens on twelve of the twenty in Good ones to start with. At a talk, set the box under Print this list to what is going on in front of you: Feeding time, Cleaning and enclosures or Training and checkups.

Interesting questions to ask a zoo keeper

Interesting ones holds thirteen about what happens out of sight: who is awake after dark, how an animal travels to another zoo, which job nobody would guess exists. The example answers describe an invented zoo, and on paper they go on a last page you can leave out.

Questions and answers

What should I ask a zoo keeper?

Ask about one animal, not all of them: which recognizes you, which is the fussiest eater, which does something odd every day. A keeper answers those with a story.

What can kids ask a zoo keeper on a zoo trip?

What they are looking at: where do the animals sleep, do the animals know their names, why is that animal sleeping. For a zoo trip holds sixteen, each short enough to read aloud.

What does a zoo keeper do all day?

Feeds the animals and looks after them: preparing diets, cleaning enclosures, watching behavior, keeping records and calling the vet when one seems ill. Some keepers train animals, such as an elephant to lift its feet for a check, and give talks to visitors.