Brevard Zoo

Help us welcome Tater Tot, our newest tawny frogmouth, to the Lorikeet Aviary! 🥔

This one-year-old female came to us as part of a Species Survival Plan (SSP) recommendation. We hope to welcome a new breeding male soon and eventually introduce some lil' tots to our Zoo crew. 🐣

Tater Tot has adjusted to her new home well and has already created a reputation for herself as a great snacker.

"She is always interested in meal time when her keepers visit - her big yellow eyes snapping open for some insects before going back to napping," said Lands of Change Area Supervisor Kristen.

Thanks to her bark-like camouflage and nocturnal behavior, she can be a bit tricky to spot. Feel free to ask one of our volunteers where she is "hiding" during your next visit!

Have you herd? A female klipspringer was born to parents Deborah and Ajabu in our Expedition Africa loop! 🦌

Both Mom and baby have been doing well in their first couple of weeks together. We’re going to let the little one get a bit bigger before introducing her to the outside world. We will let you know when you’ll have your first chance to spot this newest addition for yourself.

Learn more about this a-deer-able duo on our blog: https://brevardzoo.org/news/welcoming-the-newest-klipspringer-calf/ 🔗

Thank you to Expedition Africa Area Supervisor Alyssa and Keeper Savannah for the photos! 📸

Remember Harbor, the barnacle-crusted adult loggerhead sea turtle who came to our Sea Turtle Healing Center a month ago? Talk about a glow-up! Harbor isn’t just looking better, this loggerhead seems to be feeling better too thanks to rest, medicine and good nutrition. Harbor’s appetite has picked up again and this loggerhead has been enjoying extra clams, shrimp and more! We’re hopeful Harbor will be headed home to the ocean soon.

Your support makes healing sea turtle patients like Harbor possible. By donating to our Wildlife Rescue Fund, you can be a part of this incredible work. Your generosity today will help our Zoo’s lifesaving conservation programs. Join us by donating toward our Wildlife Rescue Fund here on Facebook or at https://bit.ly/3ARIusP.

We’re hard at work building Brevard County’s first manatee rehabilitation center! Our goal is to have this behind-the-scenes facility fully functional and ready to care for manatee patients by the end of the year.

While the space may not look much now, a lot of work has taken place underground to make it possible to support this incredible facility! Our rehabilitation complex will include a 20-foot round tank, two 40’ x 20’ oval tanks, walk-in cooler to store manatee diets, a storage area for extra gear, and the life support system that will keep our tanks running smoothly.

Since 2016, we have helped rescue, transport, and release dozens of sick manatees. We’re honored to begin a new chapter of our impact. Join us by donating toward our Wildlife Rescue Fund here on Facebook or at https://bit.ly/3ARIusP. Together, we can save Florida wildlife.

Meet Harry, a Florida black bear cub who recently came to our Zoo for care. This summer has been busy with rehabilitating orphaned Florida black bear cubs, and Harry, named by the Zoo’s own animal care team for her arrival on the birthday of children’s book hero Harry Potter, was the sixth cub to come to us for care this year.

Found wandering alone by Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, Harry came to us severely underweight at 12 pounds. We were determined that Harry, like all the cubs who’ve been under our care, had the most magical time with us possible. Read more about Harry on our blog: https://bit.ly/4e6jOvB.

By donating to our Wildlife Rescue Fund, you can be a part of saving Florida wildlife like Harry. Your support today provides urgently needed investment in Brevard Zoo’s lifesaving conservation programs like this one. Join us by donating to our Wildlife Rescue Fund on Facebook or at https://bit.ly/3ARIusP.

Do you dig all the beautiful landscaping throughout our Zoo? Our horticulture team does! 🌼

This week's podcast is all about the "unbeleafable" work they do throughout our Zoo. Tune in to our Paws for a Moment podcast on your favorite podcasting platforms like Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify to learn more! 🎧️

We’re excited to share that our Zoo was recently awarded a prestigious John H. Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance grant from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for our future manatee rehabilitation center! In a first for Brevard County, this behind-the-scenes care facility will provide rehabilitative treatment and acute care to manatees in need.

This six-figure grant will help support the manatee care personnel, equipment and supplies for this care center and ongoing efforts to rescue, transport, and release manatees. We’re thankful for the continued partnership of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and grateful for this recognition as a national leader in manatee conservation.

Slowly but surely, our Galapagos tortoises are making themselves right at home in the Kangaroo Walkabout! 🐢⁠
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The tortoise trio made their first introductions to their new space and even made a few friends along the way. ⁠
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Stop by the Lands of Change area to pay them a visit!

We’re excited to announce that OneBlood will be holding a blood drive at the Zoo tomorrow, September 12, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. This is a great opportunity to support your community and save lives!🩸

One of our former Sea Turtle Healing Center patients, McNubbins, is a fantastic blood donor herself. Most recently, when Poppy the green sea turtle was rushed to us needing an emergency blood transfusion, McNubbins was ready. Poppy is now feeling much better, and we hope to announce their release soon.

McNubbins was able to donate blood to four sick patients throughout her stay with us. She is currently staying at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center while our Aquarium and Conservation Center is being built. Then, she will be our first official aquarium resident.

If you’d like to participate in tomorrow's event, you can schedule an appointment by heading to OneBlood's website or donate as a walk-up. We hope to see you there! 🩹

Dealing with allergies? So is our 15-year-old Dromedary camel Frankie!

Our animal care and veterinary teams recently noticed some intense itching from Frankie to the point it even led to skin infections. We called on our friends at the Dermatology Center to help us test the 15-year-old Dromedary camel for a wide range of environmental allergens and ectoparasites (think creatures like fleas or lice). Frankie underwent a standing sedation, a procedure that sedated Frankie enough to make him less reactive to an exam but kept him awake enough to continue standing and breathing on his own. The testing found that Frankie has allergies to a number of insect and plant species.

Frankie will begin immunotherapy, an oral serum specifically tailored to immunize him against the allergens he shows sensitivities toward. Our animal care team is also treating him with topical medicated mousse to help treat localized areas of skin irritation. We’re hopeful that this treatment will help Frankie be more comfortable in all of the spaces he calls home here in our Zoo.

📸 Thanks to Curator of Animals Kim for the photos!

Later gators! Our two American alligators, Toothless and Martha were moved to a behind-the-scenes space while our bridge to Wild Florida undergoes repairs. Our Herps and Aquatics team has been working with the gator duo for weeks to voluntarily walk onto land, into a chute and then into a lasso to make this move as comfortable as possible. We also took the opportunity to give both alligators a full medical exam, which included a physical exam, bloodwork and radiographs. The duo was awake during their fairly non-invasive exam, so we used this special stretcher and restraints to keep both them and our animal care team safe throughout the process. Both gators appear healthy, and they have settled into their temporary behind-the-scenes home well! 🐊

By making our gators a part of this process, we’re building a relationship with them and making it possible for us to monitor their health without using more invasive procedures. We look forward to welcoming them back to their habitat later this month.

📸 Thanks to Curator of Animals Megan for the photos!

Happy Grandparents' Day! We have quite a few animal residents who are grandparents - or even great-grandparents - as well! ❤️

We're so proud of the legacy each of these animal residents is leaving, along with the care we're able to provide them as they grow older! We're committed to giving them the best care throughout their lives with us.

We celebrated a double dose of sea turtle joy with the release of Carrietta the subadult loggerhead and Jasper the juvenile green! 💚

On Aug. 30, Carrietta was accidentally hooked in Port Canaveral by a fisherman, who got ahold of the Sea Turtle Preservation Society for aid – thank you! One of our Healing Center and Preservation Society volunteers responded and brought to us for care. Our veterinary team was able to remove the hook without surgery! Carrietta proved to be healthy otherwise after bloodwork and radiographs, so we scheduled this quick release. Named after the volunteer who rescued them, Carrietta has left an impression on our Healing Center team with their love of hiding under PVC tank enrichment and love of squid and clams! 🦑

Jasper was found washed ashore by Pineda Beach Park in July. Bloodwork showed the small green had a minor infection, resolved with antibiotics, nutritional support, and time to recover. At less than two pounds, Jasper was our second small green sea turtle of the summer! Our Healing Center staff will remember Jasper as an inquisitive sea turtle who loved to scratch their shell against the PVC enrichment in our pools – even holding on to it with their front flippers to get a good scratch on their plastron, or bottom of the shell! 🐢

We welcomed our Aquarium Founders to this private release as a special “thank you” for their support! Their generosity will help make releases like this from our future Aquarium and Conservation Center possible. To learn more about becoming an Aquarium Founder, please visit https://ourlegacycampaign.org/support/become-a-founder/.

As a reminder: If you find a turtle struggling, your first step should be to call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Wildlife Alert at 888-404-FWCC or the Sea Turtle Preservation Society at 321-206-0646.

Calling all teachers! Please join us for a special evening just for you! Our Teacher Open House is a fun night of mixing and mingling with fellow educators, where you can plan incredible experiences for your students and win exciting door prizes. This event will be held at the Zoo from 5:30-7:30 p.m. September 18. Connect with educational organizations and businesses from across Central Florida and take home informational handouts and classroom freebies to enhance your teaching toolkit.

Registration closes Sept. 11, so get your ticket soon! Admission is $5, which includes hors d'oeuvres and a beverage. Visit https://brevardzoo.org/education/schools/teachers/ to learn more.

Our Zoo Teens recently made an impact at a clean-up of Rotary Park at Suntree! The park is now free of 11 tires partially buried in the shoreline, over 400 cigarette butts, several nets, fishing line, bottles and miscellaneous plastics. If you’re a fan of our Sea Turtle Healing Center, you’ve seen first-hand the damage that can be done to wildlife from errant fishing gear or plastics. It’s also so important to keep these public spaces clean and safe for our community as well! Thanks, Zoo Teens!

We’ve gone shoe shopping for our 22-year-old Masai giraffe matriarch, Milenna! 👟

As Milenna has gotten older, she’s started to display some mobility issues and signs of pain in her legs. To help her with this discomfort, her animal care team has opted to work with the Hoofstock Trim Program to build Milenna custom shoes. This team has trained our staff on hoof trimming a variety of our hoofstock and worked with us on specific cases.

🔗 Learn more Milenna's story on our blog: https://brevardzoo.org/news/can-new-shoes-help-milenna-the-masai-giraffe/

📸Thank you to Expedition Africa Keeper Savannah for the final photo

It's Pumpkin Spice season all year 'round at our Zoo! 🍂🍁

We have a new juvenile green sea turtle calling our Sea Turtle Healing Center home for now. Julienne Fry, named for her arrival on Julienne Fries Day, came to the Healing Center after a very distressing situation. 🐢

Julienne’s story is a stark reminder about the dangers of ghost fishing in our local waterways. Discarded fishing materials, like fishing lines, nets and pots, pose a serious threat to marine life.

🔗Read more about Julienne's story on our blog: https://brevardzoo.org/news/meet-the-patient-julienne-fry-the-green-sea-turtle/

⚠️If you find a turtle struggling, your first step should be to call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Wildlife Alert at 888-404-FWCC or the Sea Turtle Preservation Society at 321-206-0646. Reporting deceased turtles is also important information for FWC. And, if you come across any discarded fishing gear, it is crucial to properly dispose of it to prevent wildlife from becoming entangled, severely injured or killed.

It's Kids Free September! During the whole month of September, kids 11 years of age and younger receive FREE Zoo admission when accompanied by a paying adult who is a Florida resident.

Certain rules apply - see here for more: https://brevardzoo.org/special-events/

Take some time to slowww down and peek at our three newest residents of the Kangaroo Walkabout in our Lands of Change area. We’ve welcomed three male Galapagos tortoises! 🐢

In their time in quarantine, the “torts” have left quite an impression on their animal care team!

“They're going to be absolute stars in the kangaroo yard!” said Shelby Orth, our animal registrar and quarantine keeper. ⭐

Learn more about this trio on our blog: https://brevardzoo.org/news/welcome-to-our-galapagos-tortoise-trio/ 🔗

We share with heavy hearts that one of our 4-month-old white-nosed coati kits, Bailey, was compassionately euthanized due to a severe ongoing medical condition. We made this difficult decision after exhausting our diagnostic tools with no answer as to what was causing Bailey to have increasingly severe seizures. It’s always hard to say goodbye to our animal residents, especially one as young as Bailey, but we knew this decision would protect her from future suffering.

“Bailey was still a spunky little coati even with all the disadvantages she was going through,” said Assistant Curator of Animals Sidnee Santana-Mellor.

Please keep our animal care team in your thoughts. To read more, please visit our blog:

Remembering Bailey the White-nosed Coati | Brevard Zoo Blog We share with heavy hearts that one of our 4-month-old white-nosed coati kits, Bailey, was compassionately euthanized due to a severe ongoing medical condition.

We are continuing to celebrate the Zoo’s 30th anniversary on the 30th of every month! 🎉

Stop by the Zoo tomorrow, August 30, to see extra special birthday-themed enrichment for our Zoo residents!

📸 Thanks to Barnyard Attendant Em, and keepers Jenn and Jenna for the photos!

Visit the Zoo on the weekend, and you may see more than our animal residents! Our Zoo Teens are stationed throughout the Zoo ready to teach guests about the amazing work and care that goes on behind the scenes for all of our animals.

Applications are currently open until Oct. 6 for this special program! Learn more here: https://brevardzoo.org/volunteer-programs/zoo-teen-programs/

We're celebrating two big moments for our Eastern bongo herd!
🎂 Rio turned a year old! Our young male bongo celebrated with dino-shaped ice treats and a "cake" made of frozen peanut butter biscuits with alfalfa.
👋 Our newest male bongo calf now has access to their Trainyard habitat along with mom, Clover! If you’re hopping on our Cape to Cairo Express Train, you may need to be particularly observant when looking for the new calf, however! Bongo moms tend to hide their babies in thick bushes for periods of time to protect them from potential predators.

📸 Thank you to keepers Lindsay and Gladi for the photos!

We’re excited to introduce a meer-velous new addition to Expedition Africa. We recently welcomed Jordy the meerkat to our magnificent mob. 🎉

This nearly 3-year-old male comes to us as part of a Species Survival Plan (SSP) recommendation in hopes that he will breed with the mob’s current matriarch, Cashew, or Cashew’s oldest daughter, V***n. SSPs ensure that there are healthy, genetically diverse animals in AZA-accredited zoos.

Learn all about Jordy and his new life at our Zoo on our blog: https://brevardzoo.org/news/introducing-jordy-the-meerkat/ 🔗

📸Thank you to Area Supervisor Alyssa for the first photo of Jordy!