Wildlife Worker

A wildlife worker is a person working closely with wildlife, either in the wild or at zoos or parks. He or she might be employed by all sorts of organizations, charities or otherwise, dealing with wildlife preservation.

You can become a wildlife worker if you love all that is related to wildlife. You will only need a high school degree in order to get hired in certain instances, but you'll have to prove that you have the necessary skills and knowledge to deal with wildlife proficiently before you will get a job in the field.

If you really want your wildlife worker career to take off, you'll have plenty of training to complete.

Since you could be working with wildlife in so many possible ways, from being an urban wildlife removal person to a conservation specialist at a big aquarium, we can't possibly list all the necessary qualifications, certifications and degrees you'll need. It all depends on what you're planning to do. Consider a degree in Zoology or Veterinary Sciences for more specialized fields.

One thing is for certain: to be a really successful wildlife worker you'll need to be a practical hands on kind of person. The skills needed are numerous, and you will have to be prepared no matter the situation. Also, you will have to be able to survive all sorts of wilderness situations, in which you can only count on your own resources. That's why you really need to be an outdoors person, always prepared to deal with what may go wrong.

Depending on what you want to do, and depending on the field you chose, you'll be carrying out assigned duties according to instructions from a wildlife lead worker and take part in moderately difficulty work. One day you might be planting seeds, plants, shrubs and trees to use as wildlife cover, and the other you might be capturing and releasing wildlife for restocking purposes. You'll be working with plenty of wildlife, and if you don't love working with animals, you won't be successful.

You could be transporting and stocking fish and animals, or be assisting in fish spawn and incubation procedures. You will also be required to know how to build and maintain equipment needed for various animal related activities.

From time to time you'll have to review and repair equipment, check on property boundary lines and so on and so forth.

Science specific careers may require extensive reporting and analysis work.

You won't go far as a wildlife worker if you don't have thorough knowledge of animals, plants, and biology. It will be very helpful for you to be technically inclined, and you can expect to do some amount of manual work.

Besides that, you'll need to have some sort of mechanical knowledge and skills, as you'll be operating a wide variety of machines, hand tools and power equipment. You'll need to be able to follow instructions from the wildlife lead worker and to use all your skills and knowledge in connection with wildlife management.

In addition you will have to have skills in dealing with dangerous and distressed animals. This is especially true if you're working in urban areas, where you'll have to extract animals from the streets. The animals might be incredibly stressed, and there's no way to tell how they'll react. Remember, your goal is to safely extract the animals without hurting them and to release them in their wild, natural habitat or to remove them to a safe environment.

If you're going to become the next TV wildlife worker superstar, we can't be sure on how much money you're going to make. Probably a lot. For the rest of us, the pay depends mostly on where you work and how much experience you have.

So far, we're talking of an average range between $38,345 and $56,445, with extremes starting at $31,338 and topping at about $65,917.

The most influential icon of wildlife preservation was, no doubts about it, Steve Irwin. Steve was a beloved Australian television personality, nicknamed "The Crocodile Hunter", who became a world wide superstar thanks to his TV shows. He was a wildlife expert and a brilliant conservationist. His program, "The Crocodile Hunter", was an international wildlife documentary series co-hosted with his wife. They both owned Australia Zoo, founded by Steve's parents.

Steve was born in Melbourne, Victoria but later moved to Queensland with his parents. His parents started the small Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park, where Steve grew up knowing and loving crocodiles and other types of reptiles. There, Steve gathered his knowledge and skills, by feeding the reptiles and taking care of equipment.

He there learned all that he needed to make it big. Being such a charismatic individual, there was just a small step for him to get his own animal show. And from there on, the world was his. He got noticed by a big network, and was given the chance to make himself known on a global scale. And that he did. Nothing stood up in his way, and he has inspired countless other people to love and cherish all animals.

One of the most influential organizations in the United States, regarding wildlife, is The National Wildlife Federation. The NWF is the States' largest private, nonprofit, conservation advocacy and education organization, with more than 5 million members and supporters. The organization's mission is to inspire Americans to protect wildlife for our collective future.

As you probably know, there won't be too many jobs available in cities when it comes to wildlife. You'll have more luck trying at the National Parks Administration or other government wildlife and preservation bodies. But still, the top three is comprised of Anchorage, AK, Ann Arbor, Ml and Camden, NJ.