How To Become A Wild Life Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is a wild life manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

If you are interested in a career where you can work with animals and work to preserve their habitat, a career as a wildlife manager can be a great choice. Wildlife managers oversee research, work with a variety of animal species, and work towards maintaining and preserving their environment. Most wildlife managers work for state or federal governments and work with animal species that live on public lands. They supervise hunting on the land, collect data, keep track of animal populations, and ensure that the habitat is suitable for wildlife populations.

Most wildlife managers have a bachelor's degree in biology, animal science, or a related field, and some may even possess a master's degree as well. These individuals should possess a broad knowledge of wildlife, their habitats, and life cycles and should be comfortable spending a lot of time outdoors.

A wildlife manager can be a rewarding career if you love wildlife and the outdoors, and you can make up to $58,000 per year. However, the job market is expected to decline slightly by 2% by 2028. But don't let that discourage you from pursuing this career field if you want to work with wildlife.

ScoreWild Life ManagerUS Average

Salary

6.0

Avg. Salary $77,089

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.6

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.51%

Asian 8.91%

Black or African American 2.59%

Hispanic or Latino 15.34%

Unknown 7.60%

White 65.04%

Gender

female 65.56%

male 34.44%

Age - 43.5

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 - 43.5

Stress level

7.6

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.5

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a wild life manager

Explore wild life manager education requirements

Most common wild life manager degrees

Bachelor's

61.0 %

Associate

13.1 %

Master's

11.2 %

Start to develop specific wild life manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Good Judgment	30.84%
Senior Care	27.40%
Direct Supervision	24.68%
Leadership Development	12.63%
Business Development	2.83%

Complete relevant wild life manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New wild life managers 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 a wild life manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real wild life manager resumes.

Research wild life manager duties and responsibilities

Manage comprehensive regulatory documentation, including assessments, MDS and progress notes.
Assume a leadership role in meetings and training regarding staff education on state and institutional educational standards relate to child development.
Assist with obtaining community and/or Humana resources.

Prepare your wild life manager resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your wild life manager 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 a wild life manager resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable wild life manager resume templates

Build a professional wild life manager 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 wild life manager resume.