Paws for a Moment

While Life Support Services (LSS) may not be the first words you think of when you think of zookeepers, these trained aquarists are essential to the wellbeing of all our Zoo residents. Their work ensures all our animals, from our aquatic dwellers like our Southern and Atlantic stingrays to our water-lovers like our giant otters, have safe water to live in or enjoy. Learn more from our Life Support Manager, Jeremy Bray, about how his team's work impacts the day-to-day of our Zoo!

Happy National Zookeeper Week to all of our incredible animal care team! Learn more about this impactful field through this interview with Brevard Zoo keepers Jenna and Garrett!

What is anthropomorphism, and what role does it play in our perception of animal behavior? This podcast episode, we're joined by Curator of Animal Wellbeing Chelsea Herman and Herps & Aquatics Area Supervisor Jenna Hazard to chat about how anthropomorphism can both harm and help our understanding of animal behavior from a human perspective.

Shorebird nesting season is here! This week, we're speaking with conservation coordinator Yagen to learn a little more about what monitoring our county's native shorebird populations looks like during one of the most important times of the year for these species! Find out what a chick-a-boom is, what bird makes a call that sounds like a puppy's bark and more.

Over the past years, our Zoo and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Bear Management team have led a joint effort in rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing sick, injured or orphaned Florida black bear cubs all over the state. Today, we're joined by our Director of Animal programs, Lauren Hinson, and FWC's Bear Management Coordinator, Mike Orlando, to chat about what it takes to rehabilitate a bear cub and why these cubs depend on our help.

Learn all about the incredible conservation feats our Restore Our Shores team accomplished last year in 2025. From building 52,000 square feet of oyster reef to expanding our seagrass plantings, there's a lot you don't want to miss.

This episode, we're joined by Senior Conservation Manager Becca Downey to chat about our behind-the-scenes Manatee Rehabilitation Center, how we care for manatee patients and the process of intaking a new patient.

Watching our fun, vibrant black-handed spider monkey troop, you may never guess that multiple members have a traumatic past as wildlife trafficking victims. On this episode, we learn more from our animal care team on what it's like to acclimate these monkeys - all of which were infants when they were brought to our Zoo - into the troop.

Because of their ectothermic nature, herptiles like American alligators and crocodiles, tortoises, iguanas and more experience a lower metabolism and an overall decrease in activity. That's why every year, our Herps and Aquatics team make a few key changes to adapt to our reptile and amphibian residents' bodies. This episode, we invited Herps and Aquatics Curator Nicole Payne and Area Supervisor Jenna Hazard to chat with us all about the changes they make for our herptile friends.

A new nighttime event, Lights On, is transforming Brevard Zoo! With 30+ captivating artworks, virtual reality opportunities, lighting effects and more, Lights On isn't an event to miss out on! On today's podcast, we share some of an interview with one of our Lights On artists, Russ Ronat. If you're interested in experiencing Lights On for yourself, visit BrevardZoo.org to learn more!

This podcast, we're joined by Barnyard Attendant Em Waitt and Animal Ambassador Area Supervisor Savannah Luhn to chat all about our new Nigerian dwarf goats! In the episode, Em and Savannah dive into what it was like to introduce these five newbies to the rest of our goat squad, along with what it takes to care for our goats on a daily basis.

We're celebrating National Veterinary Technician Appreciation Week with a chat with two of our Zoo's certified veterinary technicians: Falicia and Rosemary!

We chat with Curator of Animals Michelle Johnston and Lands of Change keeper Spring Rommel about some of the more unique members of our freeflight aviaries - our laughing kookaburras and our tawny frogmouths!

Today, we're diving into the positive effects of nature on young children! Joined by Early Education Learning Manager Sky Collier and preschool teacher Lashawna Tepper, we talk all about our Zoo's Early Childhood Learning programs, including our curriculums, special animal encounters and favorite stories. Tune in!

Brevard Zoo's herd of deer has grown - tune in to learn more about all of our deer ladies!

Happy National Zookeeper Week! This podcast, we're chatting with Lands of Change keeper Spring Rommel and Rainforest Revealed keeper Emma Robinson about how their beginnings in animal care and where they are at our Zoo today. Thank you to all of our amazing staff for caring for our animals each and every day.

Today, we've invited Rainforest Revealed keepers Anna Foster and Mary Ellis to talk about how we care for our giant river otter siblings, Felix and Ophelia! Our guests tell us all about the giant river otter species, how we train our otters, silly stories and more!

Join us on the podcast today as we learn from two of our amazing conservation experts, Alyssa Rice and Kelly Currier! These beach mice experts fill us in on what it takes to care for dozens of Perdido Key Beach Mice, a species that is at our Zoo as part of an essential conservation breeding program. Learn all about these rare mice and how we are helping to save them from extinction!

Today, Lands of Change Area Supervisor Mic McPherson and Senior Keeper Alyssa Padmos are filling us in on what it takes to care for our two 12-year-old dingoes, Sydney and Victoria. From tunnel time to their daily training walks, there's never a dull day for our two dingo sisters.

What does it take to move three lions? Today we're chatting about how we moved our lion trio, Chobe, Karoo and Ruaha, to their new habitat in our Expedition Africa loop and how they've acclimated to the space so far! Joining us are senior Expedition Africa keeper Cindy Watson and Africa keeper Matt Ward.