Zoo and aquarium animal care departments operate with the complexity of a hospital, the logistics of a facility management team, and the relationship demands of a nonprofit — all simultaneously. Curators and senior keepers are responsible for species-specific husbandry, veterinary coordination, diet management, behavioral enrichment programs, and accreditation compliance. The administrative work that supports all of this — health record documentation, vendor scheduling, volunteer onboarding, and intern communication — is substantial and often handled piecemeal by the same people who are responsible for daily animal care. According to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' 2025 Institutional Capacity Survey, mid-size AZA-accredited institutions reported spending an average of 30 percent of curator time on administrative functions that did not require specialized animal care expertise. A virtual assistant (VA) trained in zoo and aquarium operations absorbs that administrative load and frees the care team to focus on what they do best.
Animal Health Record Coordination
AZA accreditation and Species Survival Plan (SSP) participation require meticulous, up-to-date health records for every animal in the collection. Records must capture veterinary examinations, treatment histories, behavioral observations, diet changes, and reproductive data — and in many cases must be accessible to SSP coordinators, loan partner institutions, and USDA inspectors. Managing this documentation in the Zoological Information Management System (ZIMS) or equivalent platforms is a significant time commitment for curators and head keepers who are already managing daily husbandry.
A VA trained in ZIMS or the institution's record system assists the care team by transcribing veterinary visit notes into the record system after exams, updating treatment and diet logs based on keeper shift reports, and compiling health history summaries for loan negotiations or transfer documentation. They also track upcoming veterinary exam schedules and alert curators when animals are due for annual or species-protocol exams. For AZA accreditation visits, the VA prepares health record documentation packages to the specific format required by the accreditation standards. The AZA's 2024 Accreditation Preparation Guide noted that institutions with a dedicated records coordinator experienced materially smoother accreditation reviews due to documentation completeness.
Vendor and Service Provider Scheduling
Zoo and aquarium operations depend on a wide network of external vendors and service providers: specialty food suppliers, veterinary equipment maintenance technicians, pharmaceutical distributors, exhibit maintenance contractors, and diagnostic laboratory couriers. Coordinating this network while maintaining biosecurity protocols and animal care schedules requires constant scheduling attention.
A VA manages the vendor and service provider scheduling calendar for the animal care department. They coordinate access times for service providers that require supervised entry to animal areas, send advance confirmation reminders to vendors, track recurring maintenance contracts and renewal dates, and manage the purchase order workflow for diet items and supplies with approved distributors. For institutions that run veterinary pharmaceutical accounts with Covetrus or MWI Animal Health, the VA tracks order histories, manages backorder substitution approvals, and ensures delivery schedules align with the institution's inventory management protocols.
Volunteer and Intern Communication
Most AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums rely heavily on volunteer docents, keeper aides, and seasonal interns to support education programming and behind-the-scenes operations. Managing these cohorts — application screening, onboarding communication, scheduling, training reminders, and retention touchpoints — represents a significant administrative workload that often falls to overextended staff members.
A VA manages the volunteer and intern communication pipeline from initial inquiry through onboarding and ongoing engagement. They respond to volunteer application inquiries, coordinate interview scheduling with the volunteer program coordinator, send onboarding checklists and background check instructions, and manage the shift scheduling calendar for active volunteers. For intern programs, the VA tracks application deadlines, coordinates with university contacts, and manages the semester onboarding sequence. Using HubSpot or Salesforce for contact management, they also send regular engagement communications — program updates, recognition messages, and event invitations — that improve retention in a population that is valuable but often undercommunicated with.
Why Animal Care Teams Need Administrative Support
The work of caring for a diverse collection of animals is irreplaceable and requires deep expertise. The administrative work that surrounds it does not — but it still must get done. A VA dedicated to zoo or aquarium animal care operations provides that administrative capacity at a fraction of the cost of an additional full-time staff member, with the flexibility to scale support during high-volume periods like accreditation preparation or breeding season.
If your zoo or aquarium is ready to lighten the administrative load on your care team, hire a virtual assistant for your animal care operations and give your keepers and curators the support they deserve.
Sources
- Association of Zoos and Aquariums. (2025). Institutional Capacity and Staffing Survey. aza.org
- Association of Zoos and Aquariums. (2024). AZA Accreditation Preparation Guide. aza.org
- Species360. (2025). ZIMS Platform Usage and Documentation Compliance Report. species360.org
- Covetrus Animal Health. (2024). Zoological Institution Supply Chain Benchmarks. covetrus.com