It's not a program, it's a degree. Having a degree in the zoological field will take you a lot farther and let you do a lot more hands on with animals. You have to study and learn about the animals if you want to properly help with their conservation and if you want to be able to educate others. The classes leading up to my zoological classes had little to nothing to do with animals. My zoology classes, however, have been very hands on and packed full of information. For Herpetology (the study of reptiles and amphibians) we spent a weekend in the desert catching and studying snakes, lizards and frogs. For Ornithology (the study of birds) we made several field trips to botanical gardens, wetlands, etc. to see the wild birds and learn about identifying them in flight or just in their natural habitat.
You get more "hands on" in zoology when you go past a bachelor's into a master's or PhD program. Undergrads can help grad students with their research. I'm helping on a couple of projects, mainly preparing frozen specimens for skeletonization and several of my friends are working on measuring bite force in collared lizards and population statistics of western fence lizards. Not all schools are reptile oriented though. The main zoo professor at our school got his PhD in studying different types of lizards, so that's what the grad students under him are studying.