I Work With Animals! Gray Wolf Trainer

Name: Megan Glosson
Age: 27
Job title: Senior Animal Trainer

Where do you work?
I work at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia.

How long have you been a gray wolf trainer?
I started training wolves here at Busch Gardens in April 2005.

What does a gray wolf trainer do on a daily basis?
We provide the wolves with all of their daily care, training and management. This includes preparing the wolves' diets, cleaning their habitats, feeding them, administering any vitamins or medications they might need, training new behaviors and writing records of their daily training and health.

When Busch Gardens is open to the public, we rotate wolves in and out of a habitat where guests can see them and we present a show called "Wolves: America's Forgotten Predator" several times each day that gives our guests a closer look at one of Mother Nature's most important, yet misunderstood, family members.

How many wolves do you work with currently?
The other trainers and I work with eight gray wolves. There are two seven-month-old wolves, four nine-year-old wolves, and two three-year-old arctic wolves, which is a sub-species of the gray wolf.

What's the best part of your job?
The best part of my job is watching an animal be successful. When the "light bulb" goes off for one of the wolves, when they improve at something they have been having trouble with, when you think maybe they are not going to succeed and then they surprise you, those are the best moments. Frequently, I will actually cheer out loud.

Have you ever been bitten or attacked?
No, I have not. We work very hard at earning a wolf's trust through the fence before we ever go into their habitat, and we use only positive reinforcement. We are not pack mates, and whenever we work with them, we do not give them a reason to feel challenged. Every single thing we ask them to do is a request. They are never disciplined, forced, corrected or even told the word "No." We are always watching their body language and respecting it. Wolves use those social cues for a reason, and it is our responsibility to respect them. By maintaining this relationship based on equality and respecting their social cues, the wolves do not have a reason to be aggressive with us.

Do you have any advice for someone who is interested in working with wolves?
First, get as much experience working with as many different animals as possible. This could include internships, volunteering, part-time jobs, seasonal jobs, practicums, and pretty much anything that exposes you to the animal industry. Even if you specifically want to work with wolves, you never know what might be available when you start looking. The more species you've been exposed to, the more prepared you will be.

You can research various options at www.buschjobs.com, www.swbg-conservationfund.org, www.aza.org and www.aazk.org. So stay optimistic, don't limit yourself too much, and eventually you will find a job that is right for you.

You can learn more about the Busch Gardens gray wolves and trainers at their blog, Wolf Valley Tales.

Tags: animal trainer, AnimalTrainer, busch gardens, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, BuschGardens, BuschGardensWilliamsburg, gray wolf, gray wolf trainer, GrayWolf, GrayWolfTrainer