Animal Trainer
🦁Teaches animals tricks and commands for film, shows and the circus: trains every day, reads body language and knows a mistake with a predator can cost a life.
Prospects & pay
What the work is like
💼 Job market
🇺🇸 $49.2k a year on average · +4.2% jobs by 2035 · 6,500 openings a year
Animal trainers — US: Census ACS 2020–24 (full-time), BLS projections 2025–35
🇬🇧 £25.1k median a year · 17,000 jobs
Animal care services occupations n.e.c. — UK: ONS ASHE 2025 (full-time)
🤖 AI & automation
AI and CGI partly replace animals on screen; hands-on work, trust and safety with a live animal can't be automated.
Who it suits
Interests: 🐾 Animals, 🎭 Music, theatre, dance, 📖 Teaching and mentoring, 🏃 Sport and movement.
Key strengths: strength and stamina, understanding people.
Where to study
- Vocational Animal Management Level 3 (UK) or an animal science college course
- Apprenticeship Assistant to a film or show animal trainer
- Course Animal training certificates (e.g. CCPDT for dogs)
Key school subjects (A-level / IB / AP): Biology, PE.
🧗 Usually an animal management college course, then work as an assistant to a film or show trainer. Wild animals are banned from circuses in the UK and many EU countries.
Things to know
⚠️ Real danger to life🛢️ Dirt, noise, smells🧳 Frequent work trips🎤 Public speaking, being on camera
Similar careers
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