Going behind the scenes at Brights Zoo

LIMESTONE, Tenn. (WJHL) – It takes a lot to keep an operation like Brights Zoo up and running.

There are over 900 animals from every corner of the globe at the zoo. Keeping them happy and healthy is a massive task, but the zookeepers at Brights Zoo are more than up to the challenge.

Every day, the zookeepers get up bright and early to address the very specific needs of the animals they care for.

“We have different adventures every day,” zookeeper Tom Berrier said. “Things happen with live animals obviously, which makes it more exciting.”

The zookeepers answer the call every day, no matter the conditions. It takes plenty of hard labor to take care of the animals, their habitats and guests at the zoo.

“It is a lot of feeding and cleaning,” senior zookeeper Tara Rohrer said. “It’s a lot of hard work, mentally, emotionally, physically. You’re out in all types of weather no matter what.”

Berrier is one of the dozen people tasked with keeping the zoo up and running. With dozens of animals under his watch, there is certainly a lot of pressure.

But that is a challenge he and the rest of the staff gladly accept daily.

“We take that pressure in stride,” Berrier said. “We work really hard to maintain the grounds and make sure the animals are healthy.”

Berrier’s day starts at 8:00 a.m. every day. His first stop is what’s called the prep room.

In the prep room, there are dozens of bins containing pellet food formulated for the specific diet of each animal. Berrier fills the buckets for his section of the zoo and heads out to feed.

Each animal has strict requirements for portion size and the type of food. If that’s not followed, it can cause complications with many of the same problems humans get when we don’t eat right.

“It’s basically the lifeline for all of the animals here,” Berrier said. “We have all different formulated pellet diets. We have macaw food, swine food, monkey biscuits.”

Rohrer works with the hoofstock in the grassy fields of the park. She moves a lot of grain to keep up with the needs of her animals.

“We go through about 3 tons of grain a week, just for the hoofstock,” Rohrer said.

Fresh food, including fruit, veggies and meat, gets chopped up and sorted every morning.

While making the rounds, Berrier said some animals are fun to feed, like the spider monkeys. They will come up to the side of their cage and take a banana right from Berrier’s hand.

Others are a bit more testy.

“The red river hogs, you have to be real careful,” Berrier said. “You have to make sure that they’re shifted into their section. I wouldn’t want to chance taking a bite from one of them.”

Zookeepers have a watchful eye on their animals. They’re always looking for signs of illness or injury.

A veterinarian comes out for routine check-ups, but if something is wrong the animal can get the help it needs quickly through a specialist.

“She comes in, does rounds, checks every animal,” Rohrer said. “If we have any concerns about any animal, she’ll go look at that specific animal for us.”

With the animals fed and healthy, zookeepers want to also make sure they are happy. That’s where animal enrichment comes in.

The zoo creates activities to put in the habitats to keep animals engaged.

“Some want to interact with us as much as possible,” Berrier said. “That takes a lot of research to see what they’re good with and what’s going to make them happy.”

It’s all in a day’s work, but that hard work is paid off with one of the most rewarding jobs out there.

“It is a ton of work, but it’s very fulfilling,” Rohrer said. “If that’s something you want to look into going into, I would highly recommend it.”

For more information on Brights Zoo, click here .

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