From tree lawn to table: Akron Zoo, FirstEnergy partner to offer tree trimmings to animals

There are a lot of a trees in Akron, and Northeast Ohio for that matter.

And just about every day, crews from FirstEnergy toil to trim them back so they don't create havoc with the electric lines.

The branches and limbs are usually gathered up and fed into a chipper that chops them up into tiny pieces to be hauled away for recycling.

The Akron-based utility has partnered with the Akron Zoo to go out on a limb and save some of these branches so they can be chopped up by critters at zoo instead.

So once a week, a group of animal specialists go out with FirstEnergy trimming crews to select a truck full of healthy branches and haul them back to the zoo, where they are cleaned and stored so they can be given to the animals. When placed in buckets of water, the branches will last about a week.

These branches not only provide enrichment for the animals who love to play with the sticks and leaves, they are also an important part of their diets.

These sticks, leaves and buds are high in fiber and critical in helping to maintain a healthy diet for many of the zoo's residents.

And chewing on this so-called "browse" also is good for their chompers.

These fresh trimmings are now being consumed by the zoo's primate and hoofstock animals, ranging from lemurs to tufted deer to alpaca to goats.

Before this new partnership was forged, Shane Good, senior director of animal care, said they were using tree trimmings from around the zoo, but this was not sustainable. He was particularly concerned about the supply once the demand grows; for example, giraffes − who will eventually be introduced to the zoo − are veracious eaters of browse.

Not only is this program benefiting the animals' diet, Good said, it also is fun to watch the animals' reactions when keepers add the browse to their habitats.

The goats and alpaca go crazy, while the tufted deer are bit more chill.

"It's exciting for our guests, too," he said. "Our guests always love to see our animals eating."

FirstEnergy has some 150 tree crews that cover some 4,500 line miles a year trimming branches, so this partnership just made sense.

Although it is new to Akron, Tara Weckerly, FirstEnergy's forestry service manager, said similar programs have popped up in the utility's other service areas across the country.

Weckerly said the utility is able to scout out ahead of time to find trees that need trimming and are particularly desirable for the zoo's animals, from willow to Norway and silver maple.

It is also critical, she said, to ensure these trimmings are from healthy trees, and that's why the zoo is so selective and personally inspects and picks its browse.

"This adds a little happiness to something we are doing anyway," she said. "And we are helping the animals too."

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: From tree lawn to table: Akron Zoo, FirstEnergy partner to offer tree trimmings to animals