Working with Wildlife
Wildlife and Natural History are an integral part of our countryside and there may be an element of wildlife work in many other roles for example ecology and ranger. There are many posts which are focused on a specific species or group of species.
This is slightly different from animal care in that you may never actually handle the animals you're working with.
If you're looking for animal care (zoos, wildlife hospitals and agriculture) click here.
Fieldwork and research can be found here.
Many wildlife focused posts are project posts covering everything from initial set up through the main aims of the project to the final report. When working with a single species it's likely that there will be an element of fieldwork; the majority of roles will include some publicity and interpretational promotional work.
Wildlife management includes gamekeeping even though the aim is to produce a shootable surplus of the quarry species there is much land and countryside management with this particularly if the quarry is a wild population, e.g. grouse, partridge or deer.
A Wildlife Ranger for the Forestry Commission will be in charge of keeping the deer population at suitable levels and possibly even involved with grey squirrel culls or similar.
Typical jobs include IUCN Red List Officer, Wildlife Officer, Field Conservation Assistant, Conservation Ranger, Re-introduction Monitoring Officer, Zoologist, Gamekeeper,
the National Careers Service has role profiles of all of these and many more (click the links)
See current vacancies advertised with CJS here.
Occasionally gamekeeping type roles will be advertised here.
To gain the experience required volunteering is frequently a good start.
See current volunteering opportunities advertised with CJS here.
Most of these roles require a degree, usually in Zoology, Ecology or similar, find details of these longer courses here.
There are many different skills and qualifications required to work with animals
Some of the these courses are available via Distance Learning courses, see these here.
Frogs, fish and forest regeneration with Charles Wheeler, Madagascar Project Manager for Chester Zoo
Bat training for careers and conservation, Bat Conservation Trust
BeeWalk - the national bumblebee monitoring scheme, Bumblebee Conservation Trust
DSC1 Online Training with The British Deer Society (BDS), British Deer Society
Creating the harmony between shooting, conservation and food production, Stewart McIntyre
Curlew Conservation: it is not about the birds, Curlew Action
Wildlife Rehabilitation Role, Wildlife Aid
Working towards a Wilder Yorkshire, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust
Whitby Wildlife Sanctuary, our journey and how you can be part of something special, Whitby Wildlife Sanctuary
Plotting the Polecat’s Recovery, Vincent Wildlife Trust
GWCT Big Farmland Bird Count – a barometer of the countryside, Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust
Protecting Wildlife through Renewable Energy work, Association for Renewable Energy & Clean Technology (REA)
Research projects funded by People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES), People's Trust for Endangered Species (PTES)
Celebrating Wildlife in Art, The Society of Wildlife Artists
30 years of putting hazel dormice back where they belong, People's Trust for Endangered Species (PTES)
Searching for Schrödinger’s Stoat in Orkney, Orkney Native Wildlife Project
Bugs Matter - the National citizen science survey of flying insect abundance, Kent Wildlife Trust
Captive breeding the hazel dormouse for reintroduction, Wildwood Trust
From delivering post to translocating lynx, Michael Willett
The modern curse of self-promotion, Wildlife Film Network
Careers in wildlife rehabilitation, where to start and what to expect, Secret World Wildlife Rescue
Beavers are back in Dorset, Dorset Wildlife Trust
Keeping a watchful eye on our waterbirds - the Wetland Bird Survey
A bird in the hand: why bird ringing is still so important, British Trust for Ornithology
The Bass Rock, Scottish Seabird Centre
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