Ask the Expert: What Does an Animal Curator Do?

You hear from them in video updates, Z Magazine articles, and social media posts – and maybe you have an idea of what they do – but what exactly is an Animal Curator’s job?

Experts in animal well-being, your Zoo’s animal curators work closely with keepers and veterinary staff to ensure optimal care for the animals at the Zoo. Additionally, they collaborate with colleagues across AZA zoos to ensure healthy populations of wildlife species in human care.

Associate Curator Laura Klutts began as a gorilla keeper and moved into the role of Associate Curator in early 2024. “Animal keepers are really the front-line staff caring and advocating for the animals,” she said. “Going from that role to Associate Curator and managing different animal areas means that I'm the advocate for the keepers now. So, it's just one more level of advocacy to make sure we're providing the best care for the animals here at the Zoo.”

Associate Curator Laura Klutts assists the gorilla team during a scheduled feeding and training session

With a wide range of interests and expertise among the curators, the team comes together as an impressive pool of knowledge and talent. Klutts explained, “Some of us have more experience in primates, some have aquatics experience, some have large hoofstock experience. Managing an elephant is a lot different than managing, let’s say, a red panda. So, we come together as a pretty fabulous team with our various strengths."

Curators’ deep knowledge of animals’ biological and ecological needs informs everything from diet and enrichment programs to habitat design and modification. They are central to the development of new habitats at the Zoo, thinking of design considerations that not only lead to safe, functional spaces for animals and keepers alike, but also maximize the animals’ well-being and enjoyment of their habitats. Their hyper-specific expertise is invaluable to this process; even with the best habitat design teams, there are things only an animal care expert could know.

Animal breeding and transfer between AZA zoos is also led by curators (and often, keepers!) through the Species Survival Plan (SSP) and Taxon Advisory Groups (TAGs). Looking at the species at the population level, they make strategic decisions that help maintain a thriving, genetically diverse group. When transfers occur, curators help coordinate travel for the animal, which is a precise, time-sensitive, logistically challenging project.

Animal Curators Travis Vineyard (left) and Tad Schoffner (right) on their way back from an animal area meeting

Animal Curator Tad Schoffner is heavily involved in managing zoo animals at the population level; he serves as a member of the Prosimian TAG, Assistant Chair of the New World Primate TAG, and has been the Studbook Keeper for the Mongoose Lemur SSP for 23 years. The studbook is a detailed genetic and demographic record of every individual of a species and represents a central piece of the population sustainability puzzle.

It’s a complex but meaningful job, Schoffner said. “Making sure that we’re keeping these species healthy for people to visit and hopefully learn from, and be inspired to help conserve in the wild is important – I've had so many rewarding moments.”

At the zoo level, curators work with the veterinary and research teams – and of course, the keepers – to monitor and assess animal health and well-being, develop research projects to better understand their needs and administer care, investigate concerns, and create treatment plans when needed.

“Keepers come to me with all kinds of things, whether it’s an animal husbandry need, or a medical concern that we need to bring to the veterinary team, or something we want to look into that we can ask our Conservation and Science department to study,” Klutts said. The collaboration doesn’t end there. The Zoo’s Maintenance team helps build, maintain, and modify habitat elements and enrichment items for the animals. Horticulture provides leafy browse for many species. Most weeks, the Animal Care team works with every other department at the Zoo.

Schoffner said, “Often there is no typical day. I always say, ‘expect the unexpected.’ As stressful as that can be, it’s also a great aspect of this profession. When you’re living this every day and you have the privilege to work with these fantastic animals and feel their majesty – I couldn’t ask for a better way to spend my career.”