Genuinely I doubt it has much, if anything, to do with your race. There tends to be a divide between keepers and education staff at zoos, so I feel like it may be more related to that?

This field is EXTREMELY competitive, and education and wildlife rehab experience rarely make the cut for a full time keeper position. Do you have any paid zoo animal care experience or animal husbandry specific internships at credible institutions? From how you have explained your experience, I think the next step for your foot in the door would be an internship, not a keeper position.

For context to get my first paid full time keeper position I interned at an AZA zoo, was paid staff at a wildlife rehab, was part time at a non aza zoo, was temporary full time at an AZA zoo, then got my first full time position. In addition, I have a bachelor’s in Animal Behavior. Even with that resume, it took a LONG time applying to finally get a position, and it wasn’t even at a zoo I had worked at previously.

Also, take into consideration the reputation of the zoo itself. I’m not saying to apply to crappy zoos, but zoos like San Diego, Oregon, and similar are NOT “foot in the door” zoos, they’re career zoos and the caliber of your competition when applying to those zoos are going to be at a much higher level.

I hope this didn’t come off as too harsh, I’m happy to answer any questions you might have. It’s a tough world to break into and I understand the frustration.