Volunteer
Be Part of the Team
Share your enthusiasm for wildlife with visitors to the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo, Prospect Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, and the New York Aquarium. As a docent, you'll not only become an expert on animal life, you'll also learn all about wildlife conservation efforts and the history of our parks. WCS offers a range of opportunities for volunteers, including leading guided tours, chatting with guests at exhibits, and maintaining our fish tanks…from underwater!
Bronx Zoo Volunteer Program
Become a member of the Friends of the Zoo, the docent organization based in the Education Department at the Bronx Zoo. You’ll lead schoolchildren and other organized groups on guided tours of zoo exhibits, assist at special events and in our environmental education programs, deliver mini-talks about specific animals, and provide visitors with valuable lessons that promote wildlife conservation.
Central Park Zoo Volunteer Program
Become a Wildlife Guide at one of the nation’s greatest institutions. You’ll assist the Education Department at the Central Park Zoo in delivering exhibit talks, staffing information tables, offering administrative support, leading tours, reading to children during our story time activities, and participating in a variety of events.
Prospect Park Zoo Volunteer Program
The Prospect Park Zoo offers two volunteer programs. As an education docent, you’ll lead tours, manage discovery stations throughout the Zoo, and help with special events. You can also train as an animal handler and present live animal encounters to the public. As a Discover Center volunteer, you’ll help out at the Zoo’s interactive Discovery Center, open to children on weekends.
Queens Zoo Volunteer Program
Become a volunteer with the Education Department of the Queens Zoo, where you’ll teach schoolchildren and other zoo visitors about animals through guided tours, assisting with special programs and events, speaking at narrated feedings, and leading arts and crafts activities.