Careers Working with Animals

I have an ardent love for animals. I have been surrounded by different pet animals since I was a little kid. Cocks and hens, dogs and cats, even a goat and her lamb, aquarium fish and little mice, all have found a place in my home as well as my heart. I am sure there are many people out there who too enjoy begin around animals and share feelings of compassion for them. This often makes them wonder if they could mix pleasure with work. By this I mean they want to learn about the different careers working with animals. A few years ago, such careers involved nothing more than becoming a veterinarian, animal trainer, or a wildlife researcher and wildlife photography. As the awareness regarding animal care grew, more and more avenues related to careers related to working with animals were thrown open.

High Paying Careers Working with Animals

Most of the time, people looking for careers working with animals are not very concerned about the money they earn. However, one has to make a living and live decently in today's world of high inflation. There are few high paying careers that not only offer you a mode of living, but also high job satisfaction and excitement.

Veterinarian
A veterinarian is an animal doctor. We all know that one of the top paying jobs is that of a doctor. More and more pet owners are visiting veterinarians for help and care of their animals. Not only does a private veterinarian practice a flourishing job, there are other avenues too available. You can either be appointed as a veterinarian for a zoo, a ranch, sporting groups and even in laboratories for research and animal care. To be come a veterinarian, you need to earn a post bachelor's degree in Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. Once you graduate from a veterinary medicine school, you will be taking an exam that will help you earn your license to practice. A veterinarian salary is about $75,230/yr. or $36.17/hr.

Veterinarian Technician
Like all doctors, veterinarians cannot take care of the health of the animal single-handedly. They need the help of a trained and experienced person to assist them on the job. One the careers in veterinary medicine is of a veterinarian technician. You need to have an associate degree and pass a licensing exam. A veterinary technician salary is about $27,970/year or $13.45/hour.

Veterinarian Pathologist
Veterinarian pathologist are trained in studying diseases, development and cause of disease. They do the same things a pathologist for human diseases does. They help the veterinarian diagnose diseases in animals and choose the correct line of treatment. The median salary for a veterinarian pathologist is about $120,000 and $160,000.

Pet Sitters and Exerciser
This is another high paying career where working with animals is required. You can either work part-time or full-time as a pet sitter and exerciser. You need to take the pets for grooming sessions, training classes, visits to a doctor. It also involves pet care and baby-sitting pets when owners are out or have gone for a vacation. This is a job full of responsibility as you need to care for pets that belong to others. High work ethics, patience and love for animals are the requirements. You need to have flexible working hours as you maybe required to take care of a pet anytime during the day. The annual salary for a single person working as a pet sitter is about $30, 000 to $45, 000. Those having a large pet sitting business earn about $100,000 and even more.

Other high paying careers also include the following:

• Research Veterinarian
• Animal Physical Therapist
• Animal Chiropractor
• Animal welfare
• Animal Behaviorist
• Animal Breeders
• Animal Trainers
• Canine Welfare Technician
• Careers in Herpetology
• Careers with Horses
• Dog Groomer
• Dog Handlers
• Dog Obedience Trainer
• Horse Trainers
• Horse Racing Jockey
• Primatology Careers
• Professional Farrier
• Range Managers
• Shearer
• Stable Lad
• Pet Shop Owner
• Petting Zoo Owner

Careers Working with Wild Animals

It's not just the tame animals around the block, but also wild animals that need our care. There are many fulfilling careers working with wild animals that requires dedication as well as courage. One needs courage because they are after all wild animals like lions, bears, elephants, wolves, giraffes, zebras, etc. If you are a true animal enthusiast and want to do something for our friends in the jungle, then careers working with wild animals is your game.

Zoo Keepers
Zoo keepers are those who work and care for animals living in the zoo. They need to take care about the animals feeding, cleaning up of their zoo and understand any changes in the animals behavior. They should have enough knowledge about the zoo animals. They should also be able to explain about the different habitat and behavior patterns of the animals to the visitors. A trainee or not so experienced zoo keepers salary is about $28,000 per year. Those will experience can earn about $40,000 per year.

Zoologists/ Wildlife Biologists
Wildlife biologists are those who study wild animals and their environment. They may study animals in private laboratory, university or work on field. Zoologists job description shows these are experts who specialize in one animal species like a bird, animal, reptile or fish. To become a wildlife biologists or zoologists one needs to study a lot and earn many degrees. One may need to spend 10 years in advance schools and maybe even earn a Ph. D. The median annual salary of wildlife biologists and zoologists is about $55,280 or more.

Other careers working with wild animals includes the following:

• Conservation Officer
• Forestry/Park Ranger
• Environmental Chemistry
• Ecologist
• Cooperative Extension Agent
• Interpretive Naturalist
• Fish Farming
• Environmental Management
• Natural Resources Management
• Wildlife Rehabilitator
• Zoo and Aquarium Careers
• Zoological Park Careers
• Zoological Scientist
• Game Warden
• Gamekeeper
• Wildlife Conservation
• Fish and Game Wardens
• Fish and Wildlife Management

Careers Working with Marine Animals

If you love being outdoors, work in all types of weather, even on weekends, nights and even holidays, then careers working with marine animals is your cup of tea. There are many careers working with marine animals, some of which need a 4 year college degree and/or specialization degree. Let us have a look at some of the careers working with marine animals that may interest you.

Marine and Freshwater Biologists
Those working as marine and freshwater biologists need to work with animals and plants of the rivers, lakes and sea. Marine biologist job description includes rescue and rehabilitation of marine animals that are either stranded, injured or sick. A freshwater or marine biologists salary who has work experience of over 5 years is about $60,000 to 70,000.

Aquarists
Those who work in a freshwater and marine aquarium setups are called aquarists. They need to feed the fish and marine animals, monitor their health, water quality and set up the tanks for exhibition for public and also observe the wild animal behavior in the aquariums. An experienced aquarists earns about $22,800 per year.

Herpetologists
Those who study and research about reptiles and amphibians are called herpetologists. The herpetologist needs to work with turtles, frogs, snakes, lizards, etc. The salary range for a herpetologist is about $18,000 to $80,000 depending upon the work setup. They may work with museums, zoos, wildlife management, professors, etc.

Other careers working with marine animals include the following:

• Aquarium Supervisor
• Curator
• Naturalists
• Marine Mammal Trainers
• Water Quality Technicians
• Marine educator
• Marine filmmaker
• Marine photographer
• Ecotourism guide
• Park ranger
• Beach superintendent
• Maritime or environmental lawyer
• Coastal or ocean policy experts
• Aquavet (veterinarians who specialize in marine or aquatic animals)
• Marine archaeologist
• Marine historian
• Aquaculturist hatchery specialist
• Landscape or maritime architect
• Marine botanist

Careers Working with Exotic Animals

Careers working with exotic animals involves working with wild or feral animals native to other countries. If you wish to have enriching careers working with exotic animals then the options available include becoming a zoo keeper, veterinarian and an animal trainer. As an exotic animal trainer, one needs to train the animals to perform in front of large groups. You need to have a lot of patience and perseverance while training these animals. They are after all wild and feral animals that may also be dangerous. Some of the animals you may have to train includes dolphins, gorillas, chimpanzees, lions, tigers, etc. You maybe employed by zoos and rehabilitation centers. Animal trainer are also in demand by movie makers. They need to train animals working in movies such as dogs, cats, horses, monkeys, chimpanzees, lions, elephants, etc. Apart from training certain exotic animals one may need to control cobras, pythons, crocodiles, etc. The median annual salary of an animal handler maybe about $12,840 to $17,460 to $28,420 and more.

There are many more different jobs working with animals that you can choose as a career. You can find about all the possible careers working with animals available in the region you live. Hope the above paragraphs have helped you find some high paying careers and make a career helping animals.