Senior Animal Keeper – Lead Zoo Care Team

About the role

Miral Experiences is seeking a Senior Animal Keeper to lead the day‑to‑day care of animal collections at Al Ain Zoo. The role combines hands‑on husbandry with leadership, ensuring the highest standards of animal welfare, safety and operational compliance.

Key responsibilities

• Oversee daily husbandry, feeding, cleaning, enrichment and training for assigned species, meeting international zoo standards.
• Monitor animal behaviour, health indicators and environmental conditions, reporting any concerns promptly.
• Lead and mentor a team of Animal Keepers, providing coaching, performance feedback and training.
• Ensure strict adherence to safety protocols, lock‑out/tag‑out procedures, dangerous‑animal handling and biosecurity measures.
• Maintain accurate records in zoo management systems (e.g., ZIMS) and support audits, inspections and accreditation processes.

Required profile

• Minimum 5 years of professional experience in a modern zoological institution, aquarium or wildlife park.
• Proven experience handling potentially dangerous species under protected‑contact and safety protocols.

Required skills

• Dangerous animal management and protected‑contact systems.
• Animal training using positive‑reinforcement techniques.
• Animal welfare assessment programmes and incident investigations.
• Modern zoo record‑keeping systems, preferably ZIMS.