| Type | Side Bet |
| Alias | Animals, Animal Game |
| Format | Game |
| Number of players | 2,3,4+ |
| Team or Individual play | Individual |
- Zookeeper is a game in which different animals are awarded to a player for different bad shots.
- Some common examples of animals that are awarded include:
- Frog: When a ball lands in a water hazard
- Alligator: Hitting two balls in the same water hazard
- Camel: Hitting a ball into a sand trap
- Double-humped camel: Hitting from a sand bunker into the same or a different one
- Mole: Taking two or more shots to get out of the sand trap
- Snake: For three-putting
- Anaconda: For four-putting
- Gorilla: Losing a ball
- Skunk: Ball going out of bounds
- Rat: Hitting the ball into a waste bunker
- Kangaroo: Hitting the ball twice in a single swing
- Jackass: Missing a birdie from inside the length of a flagstick
- The names and penalties can change according to the group of players.
- This game isn’t just about penalties, though. If a player holes in from off the green, they can “send it to the vet” or simply take out one animal from their zoo. This move is not bankable and so a player who does not have any animals in their zoo cannot use this option.
- An important thing to note is that one animal can only belong to one player at a time.
Example:
- Suppose Player A hits the ball out of bounds on the first hole. They get the skunk.
- On the second hole, Player A hits into a sand trap. They get a camel and now they have a skunk and a camel.
- On the third hole, Player B drives the ball out of bounds. Now Player B has the skunk while Player A only has the camel.
- Each animal is usually worth $1, but that is to be decided among the group. At the end of the game, the players with animals pay every other player the agreed-upon amount for each animal in their zoo.