Animal keeper vs animal care technician

The differences between animal keepers and animal care technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-3 months to become both an animal keeper and an animal care technician. Additionally, an animal keeper has an average salary of $30,829, which is higher than the $29,617 average annual salary of an animal care technician.

The top three skills for an animal keeper include animal husbandry, zoo animals and animal exhibits. The most important skills for an animal care technician are patients, animal husbandry, and pigs.

Animal keeper vs animal care technician overview

	Animal Keeper	Animal Care Technician
Yearly salary	$30,829	$29,617
Hourly rate	$14.82	$14.24
Growth rate	28%	28%
Number of jobs	5,971	96,973
Job satisfaction	-	4
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 72%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Average age	32	32
Years of experience	3	3

Animal keeper vs animal care technician salary

Animal keepers and animal care technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Animal Keeper	Animal Care Technician
Average salary	$30,829	$29,617
Salary range	Between $20,000 And $45,000	Between $21,000 And $40,000
Highest paying City	-	South San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	Oregon
Best paying company	-	Emory University
Best paying industry	-	Health Care

Differences between animal keeper and animal care technician education

There are a few differences between an animal keeper and an animal care technician in terms of educational background:

	Animal Keeper	Animal Care Technician
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 72%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Most common major	Biology	Biology
Most common college	Cornell University	New York University

Animal keeper vs animal care technician demographics

Here are the differences between animal keepers' and animal care technicians' demographics:

	Animal Keeper	Animal Care Technician
Average age	32	32
Gender ratio	Male, 26.4% Female, 73.6%	Male, 31.1% Female, 68.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.5% Unknown, 6.5% Hispanic or Latino, 18.0% Asian, 2.7% White, 67.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 6.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.5% Asian, 2.7% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between animal keeper and animal care technician duties and responsibilities

Animal keeper example responsibilities.

Manage complicated water filtration systems, and implement nutrition plans for a variety of snake species.
Prepare diets according to USDA guidelines to help maintain foodsupplies and animal weights.
Aid in vaccinations, wind treatment, artificial insemination procedures, castrations, tagging and tattoos.
Assist in producing illustrations and animation material to develop tutoring videos for math and physics.
Help with incoming pets as well as with the adoption of the pet by their forever home families.

Animal care technician example responsibilities.

Assist in managing shelter for animals and arranging for adoption or euthanasia of confiscate animals.
Train in safety procedures for blood borne pathogens, GLP and GMP certification, and ISO standards.
Familiarize with the strains of various animal species to include rats, mice, gerbils, guinea pigs.
Interview prospective adopting families while counseling on animal welfare and responsibilities of pet owners.
Maintain knowledge of CPR procedures and evacuation procedures.
Assist with minor emergency procedures, perform CPR.

Animal keeper vs animal care technician skills

Common animal keeper skills

Animal Husbandry, 17%
Zoo Animals, 11%
Animal Exhibits, 10%
Exotic Animals, 6%
Animal Handling, 5%
AZA, 4%

Common animal care technician skills

Patients, 10%
Animal Husbandry, 9%
Pigs, 5%
Patient Care, 5%
Animal Handling, 5%
GLP, 4%