Business
8A
THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017
THE GREENEVILLE SUN
BUSINESS EDITOR: KRISTEN EARLY
Bright’s Zoo Brings New Species
To Display In Tennessee
Giant Anteater,
Serval Exhibits
Now Open
BY KRISTEN EARLY
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
LIMESTONE — Bright’s
Zoo celebrated an addition
Wednesday that brings
a new species on display
to the state of Tennessee,
according to Director David
Bright.
The zoo, located in Limestone, o cially opened a
giant anteater exhibit that
features a breeding pair
named “Sid” and “Inara.”
The Bright family, which
owns and runs the private
zoo, purchased the animals
from the Staten Island
Zoo in New York City
three months ago. Bright’s
Zoo had the new exhibit
constructed within 30 days,
making the wait to receive
the animals a lengthy one,
Bright said.
The Bright family was
privately raising and breeding exotic animals — particularly endangered and
vulnerable species — long
before the zoo opened to
the public. Their breeding
program is a key emphasis
to the zoo’s business model
that not all zoos share,
Bright said.
As the family’s exotic
animal population grew and
they added species unavailable to the public at other
nearby zoos, they began
to receive pressure from
schools and the Association
of Zoos and Aquariums to
open their 100-acre facility
to the public. In response,
the family began providing
guided tours in 2009.
After several years of
perfecting their grounds for
visitors, including adding a
gift shop, concessions stand
and other amenities, the
Brights began o ering general admission tickets for
self-guided tours in 2013.
A zoo is not what the family first intended for their
property and animals. It began as a love for exotic pets,
then shifted as the family
learned more of the animals
and grew passionate about
conservation e orts.
On Wednesday, both
Bright and lead zookeeper
Maggie Trunack frequently
repeated to visitors to the
new exhibit that no, the
giant anteaters that have
a vague resemblance to a
sloth would not make good
pets.
But it’s not only the
anteaters’ powerful front
arms, ability to stand as tall
SUN PHOTOS BY KRISTEN EARLY
Bright’s Zoo Director David Bright stands outside of the zoo’s newest exhibit, which features two giant anteaters. Bright said
the Limestone zoo is currently the only one in Tennessee with giant anteaters on display.
Go to
GreenevilleSun.com
to see video of the
new anteaters at
Bright’s Zoo.
Lead Zookeeper Maggie Trunack greets the friendly “Sid,” a giant anteater who is new to
Bright’s Zoo.
When standing on their rear
legs, giant anteaters can be
several feet tall.
as a human on their back
legs and long claws — all
designed to ward o jaguars
in their native South America as well as allow them to
dig deep into termite and
ant holes for food with little
more than a swipe — that
keeps them from supporting the anteater or any of
their other exotics as pets,
they said.
It’s their ideas of conservation and protecting species for the best and most
natural life they can enjoy
in captivity now that the
“Prince” the serval shows his appreciation for zookeeper
Arielle Dolan, who works to train the servals at Bright’s Zoo.
human race has threatened
or destroyed their habitat.
With so much passion
behind their work, it can
be di cult to focus on the
business aspects of their
operation — breaking even
and getting to the point
where the zoo turns a profit,
Bright said.
“When we went into this
endeavor, we knew ahead of
time that it was going to be
a long time before the zoo
ever breaks even or makes
any money. And we’re still a
couple years away from that
point,” Bright said. “And we
keep putting that money in.
One, it’s worth it. It’s hard
to say you went to work all
day long when you’re work-
ing in this environment. I
have no complaints about
what I do for a living.”
They get attached to the
cubs their animals have,
making it sometimes
di cult to sell them to
other zoos, and put forward
considerable investment
into the animals’ comfort.
The giant anteaters, for
example, enjoy a barn that
currently is heated to 80
degrees and, in the summer, will be air conditioned
to 70 degrees for the South
American mammals’ comfort. In winter, the zoo’s
heating bills can be $15,000
to $16,000 a month, a cost
that is especially di cult
when the zoo is closed because the animals are kept
up to stay warm, and when
it’s not breeding season —
meaning no revenue is coming in. Then there’s special
diets, veterinary care and
facility maintenance.
The constant reinvestment into the facility that
the Bright family makes
also adds to the financial
status of the zoo — such
as paying for as exotic and
expensive of a breeding pair
as Sid and Inara, Bright
added.
“It’s one of those investments that’s definitely
worth doing,” he said.
Bright and his sta have
more big plans for the future. By summer, he hopes
to have open next to the
giant anteaters an exhibit
for the lesser anteaters he
already owns but does not
yet have on display. The
lesser anteaters are much
smaller in size and will
likely seem to the public to
be infant-like compared to
the giants, he said.
The zoo also opened on
March 15 a serval exhibit —
another animal the family
has owned for some time
but has only recently put
on display. The two that the
family owned are currently
on loan to a Texas zoo for
breeding, but they’ve added
four more for their Limestone location. Servals are
wild African cats.
Thanks to the e orts of
zookeeper Arielle Dolan,
the servals are learning
behaviors that allow them
to travel into area schools
— walking on the end of a
leash, sitting when asked
and being comfortable near
human companions.
“She’s doing everything
everybody said she couldn’t
do,” Bright said with pride
about Dolan training the
servals.
That training opens
the doors to adding the
servals to the zoo’s Education on Wheels initiative,
yet another in a string of
e orts the zoo makes to
diversify its o erings (along
with scheduled animal
feedings, annual special
events, grounds rental for
special events and behindthe-scenes membership
specials), all aimed also at
promoting their primary
passion: conservation.
For more information
about the zoo, including
hours and ticket pricing,
visit www.brightszoo.com.
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