Animal Behaviorist

An animal behaviorist does more than just train animals to sit and fetch. Professionals in this field use scientific techniques to study (and sometimes modify) an animal’s behavior. They are concerned with understanding the causes, functions, development, and evolution of animal behavior. The development of behavior pertains to the ways in which behavior changes over the lifetime of an animal, and how these changes are affected by both genes and experience. The evolution of behavior relates to the origins of behavior patterns and how these change over generations.

Animal behaviorists work in a very wide variety of jobs, with all sorts of animals. Many teach at colleges and universities or do independent research. They may be in departments such as animal science, veterinary medicine, wildlife biology, or entomology, and biology. Another opportunity for animal behaviorists to be involved with research is by working for a private pharmaceutical company that uses animals for drug testing. Also, government agencies and private environmental consulting firms are hiring people with animal behavior degrees to examine the effects of habitat alteration, foraging patterns, population, and reproductive processes in animals. Animal behaviorists are also hired by zoos, aquariums or museums to improve health and reproduction, or to work on education programs for the public, such as tours, lectures, and educational displays.