Wildlife rehabilitator vs animal care provider

The differences between wildlife rehabilitators and animal care providers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-3 months to become both a wildlife rehabilitator and an animal care provider. Additionally, a wildlife rehabilitator has an average salary of $37,928, which is higher than the $24,866 average annual salary of an animal care provider.

The top three skills for a wildlife rehabilitator include wild animals, rehabilitation and diet preparation. The most important skills for an animal care provider are PET, administer medications, and husbandry.

Wildlife rehabilitator vs animal care provider overview

	Wildlife Rehabilitator	Animal Care Provider
Yearly salary	$37,928	$24,866
Hourly rate	$18.23	$11.95
Growth rate	28%	28%
Number of jobs	11,399	70,701
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 69%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Average age	32	32
Years of experience	3	3

Wildlife rehabilitator vs animal care provider salary

Wildlife rehabilitators and animal care providers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Wildlife Rehabilitator	Animal Care Provider
Average salary	$37,928	$24,866
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $53,000	Between $14,000 And $41,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between wildlife rehabilitator and animal care provider education

There are a few differences between a wildlife rehabilitator and an animal care provider in terms of educational background:

	Wildlife Rehabilitator	Animal Care Provider
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 69%	Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Most common major	Biology	Biology
Most common college	Duke University	Stanford University

Wildlife rehabilitator vs animal care provider demographics

Here are the differences between wildlife rehabilitators' and animal care providers' demographics:

	Wildlife Rehabilitator	Animal Care Provider
Average age	32	32
Gender ratio	Male, 20.3% Female, 79.7%	Male, 25.1% Female, 74.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 6.5% Hispanic or Latino, 18.3% Asian, 2.7% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 4.3% Unknown, 6.4% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 2.6% White, 68.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	11%	11%

Differences between wildlife rehabilitator and animal care provider duties and responsibilities

Wildlife rehabilitator example responsibilities.

Organize volunteers for capture or pickup of wild injure raptor species.
Deal mostly with feeding and cleaning of songbird habitats, but occasionally help to handle raptor and mammal subjects.
Provide nursing care for temporary and permanent resident animals at accredit rehabilitation facility.
Aid in vaccinations, wind treatment, artificial insemination procedures, castrations, tagging and tattoos.

Animal care provider example responsibilities.

Maintain care on the horses, pigs, goats and sheep.
Work with turtles, snakes, frogs, skunk and owl.
Fed and water horses, chickens, goats, pigs, cows and dogs.
Locate pet product merchants willing to donate food/ toys/ litter to families struggling to financially provide for their pets.
Complete physical checks and monitor patients to detect unusual or harmful behavior and report observations to professional staff.
Milk animals such as cows and goats, by hand or using milking machines.

Wildlife rehabilitator vs animal care provider skills

Common wildlife rehabilitator skills

Wild Animals, 37%
Rehabilitation, 30%
Diet Preparation, 17%
Acute Medical Care, 11%
Educational Programs, 5%

Common animal care provider skills

PET, 35%
Administer Medications, 17%
Husbandry, 9%
Animal Housing, 7%
Customer Service, 7%
Laboratory Animals, 6%

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Wildlife Rehabilitator vs Animal Care Provider

Updated January 8, 2025

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