Zoo InternQuest is a career exploration program for high school students. For more information see the Zoo InternQuest Journals. For more photos see the Zoo InternQuest Photo Journal.

You would be surprised at the amount of effort and devotion it takes to care for the animals housed in the reptile exhibits. I know I was! Brett Baldwin performs this job routinely and passionately.

Mr. Baldwin is a senior keeper at the reptile house. One component of his job consists of monitoring the breeding of the reptiles under his care as well as keeping track of the blood lines of some of the animals in both the San Diego Zoo and animals of the same species in other zoos across the country.

He and his colleagues are also responsible for figuring out new information concerning the lives of the animals they work with. Not much is known about several of the animals, as it is often hard to study them in their natural habitats, and new species are being discovered even today in isolated places such as Indonesia. The keepers at the Zoo share ideas with people from organizations like National Geographic to find better ways to care for and breed their animals and assist other zoos with similar projects.

Mr. Baldwin said that the largest challenge they can hope to accomplish right now is to be able to breed their pair of gharials. Gharials are a critically endangered crocodilian species that have only bred a few times in the US. Gharials can be found living in river-stystems in India and Nepal. These reptiles were pushed to the brink of extinction in the 1970’s when only about 50-60 animals remained. Since then, people have been helping the gharial to make a comeback and breeding the gharials at the Zoo would be a big step in the road to saving this species.

Each zoo has a different requirement for working with reptiles and amphibians. Some zoos require a four-year college degree while others may take experience in place of a degree. The San Diego Zoo requires its keepers to have a degree, and looks for people with a mixture of experience and schooling. Mr. Baldwin has a B.S. in biology and worked for nine years at a small zoo in Texas before coming to the San Diego Zoo. Most reptile departments require keepers to go through an in-house training period concerning venomous animals. Regardless of prior experience working with reptiles, keepers who are new to the Zoo must go through several months of in-house training. The keepers at the reptile house are not only responsible for the safety and care of the animals but furthermore are ready to help their fellow keepers at a moments notice if a keeper needs assistance. 

Danielle, Careers Team

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