How To Become An Animal Handler: What It Is and Career Path

What is an animal handler and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an animal handler. For example, did you know that they make an average of $13.38 an hour? That's $27,820 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 28% and produce 101,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreAnimal HandlerUS Average

Salary

2.2

Avg. Salary $27,820

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.7

Growth rate 28%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

1.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.48%

Asian 2.61%

Black or African American 4.22%

Hispanic or Latino 17.71%

Unknown 6.57%

White 68.39%

Gender

female 61.17%

male 38.83%

Age - 29

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 29

Stress level

6.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.0

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

8.1

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an animal handler

Explore animal handler education requirements

Most common animal handler degrees

Bachelor's

45.1 %

Associate

22.1 %

High School Diploma

20.5 %

Start to develop specific animal handler skills

Skills	Percentages
Animal Handling	54.83%
Goats	12.98%
Animal Species	7.51%
Exotic Animals	4.18%
Zoo Animals	2.86%

Complete relevant animal handler training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New animal handlers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an animal handler based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real animal handler resumes.

Research animal handler duties and responsibilities

Handle, dogs pigs, donkey, and horses.
Assist veterinarians, veterinary technicians and veterinary assistants in providing the best care possible for patients.
Provide environmental enrichment for various mammal and raptor species.

Prepare your animal handler resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your animal handler resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an animal handler resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable animal handler resume templates

Build a professional animal handler resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your animal handler resume.