Paws for a Moment

Listen along for a behind-the-scenes look at the Zoo world with our experts at Brevard Zoo in Melbourne, Florida. Learn more about your favorite animals – and what the Zoo is doing to help protect them. Let us share our joy of nature with you.

Last refreshed: August 20th, 2025 at 11:25 PM ⓘ

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Episodes

Oh Deer

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

Aug 17, 2025•1 hr 4 min

National Zookeeper Week: 2025

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.

Jul 27, 2025•39 min

Catching Up with Our Giant River Otters

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!

Jun 22, 2025•34 min

The Secret Lives of Beach Mice

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!

Jun 08, 2025•1 hr 2 min

Get to Know Our Dingoes

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.

May 04, 2025•30 min

An Update on Our Lions

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.

Apr 20, 2025•27 min

Caring for Our Zoo's Macaws

Zookeepers Grace Scott and Christen Carrillo join us for today's episode to talk all about what goes into the daily care of our macaws!

Apr 06, 2025•44 min

Revisiting Restore Our Shores

We check in with our Restore Our Shores conservation team to learn more about some of their newest projects: buffer zones and seagrass!

Feb 02, 2025•42 min

Giving Our Animal Residents Choice and Control

Providing our animal residents with meaningful choices in their daily lives is essential to their wellbeing! We're joined by Animal Wellbeing and Bear Coordinator Marc Franzen and Curator of Ambassador Animals Madison Polk to learn more about how we do this at Brevard Zoo.

Jan 19, 2025•47 min

The Barnyard

The Barnyard is home to some of the animals open to pets at Brevard Zoo: our goats, bloodhounds, chickens, and African spurred tortoise! Learn more about what life's like in The Barnyard.

Dec 15, 2024•25 min

Riding Out a Hurricane at the Zoo

We're featuring two members of our Hurricane Rideout Team: Jess Patterson, a Sea Turtle Healing Center coordinator, and Albert Ferraro, a Rainforest Revealed zookeeper. We are so thankful for the efforts from our rideout team and the safety of our Zoo.

Dec 01, 2024•44 min

Hop Aboard Our Trainyard Podcast

Learn more about the amazing animals who call the area our Cape to Cairo Express travels in home. Think of our Ankole-Watusi cattle, Eastern bongo, male impala and, of course, Frankie the Dromedary camel!

Oct 13, 2024•52 min

Meet Our New Communications Coordinator

We have a new host for our podcast! Meet Jenny, our new communications coordinator, who will be joining us on future podcasts.

Sep 29, 2024•9 min

Digging Plants at the Zoo

Two members of Brevard Zoo's Horticulture team join us to share more about their work at our Zoo, from beautifying guest spaces to landscaping habitats to creating areas for native species to thrive.

Sep 15, 2024•46 min

Caring for Large Snakes

Ssssssit down and enjoy our latest podcast all about the two largest snakes at our Zoo: Brittany the Burmese python and Tsodilo the African rock python!

Aug 25, 2024•49 min

Piggy Pals

Get to know our ever-growing North sulawesi babirusa family with Lands of Change area supervisor Kristen and senior keeper Mic McPherson!

Aug 04, 2024•29 min

National Zookeeper Week

Happy National Zookeeper Week! Two of our keepers, Wild Florida keeper Mallory Bourne and Herps & Aquatics keeper Jenna Bakhuisen, joined us to share their zookeeper journeys, give advice to folks thinking about entering this field, and more!

Jul 21, 2024•59 min

Coati Cast - Baby Edition

We've nearly doubled our white-nosed coati band with the birth of eight (yes, eight) kits to coatis Sky and Rita! These births aren't just important for our Zoo, but also for this species populations in organizations accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Join director of animal programs Lauren Hinson and assistant curator of animals Sidnee Santana-Mellor as we learn more.

Jul 07, 2024•50 min

Happy (Belated) Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to human and animal moms alike! On this episode, we learn more about a few of our Zoo resident dads.

Jun 23, 2024•30 min

Kings of the Zoo

Get to know our three lion brothers, Chobe, Karoo and Ruaha on this episode! Two members of their animal care team, Alyssa Simon and Matt Ward, share what it's like caring for the trio.

May 26, 2024•36 min•Season 1Ep. 44

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to human and animal moms alike! On this episode, we learn more about a few of our Zoo resident moms.

May 12, 2024•37 min•Season 1Ep. 43

AZA Accreditation Part 2

Brevard Zoo has been accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums since 1997. This accreditation needs to be updated about every 5 years - and we've completed the re-accreditation process! Learn more about this process from our director of animal programs Lauren Hinson and curator of animals Mack Ralbovsky.

Apr 28, 2024•29 min•Season 1Ep. 42

A Conversation about the Indian River Lagoon

We recently hosted a conversation on the Indian River Lagoon with our CEO Keith Winsten and Dr. Duane De Freese, the executive director of the IRL Council and National Estuary Program . Dr. De Freese is widely regarded as a leading expert and advocate for the conservation of the Indian River Lagoon, so what came from this talk was a really interesting look at the state of the lagoon and insights on the work being done to help this incredibly important waterway. This conversation took place over ...

Apr 14, 2024•1 hr 25 min•Season 1Ep. 41

Giving Our Ambassador Animals a New Home

Our Ambassador Animal care team has transformed a habitat in our Rainforest Revealed loop into a comfortable, natural habitat for our skunk trio, Shelley the prehensile-tailed porcupine, and Higgins the two-toed sloth.

Mar 31, 2024•18 min•Season 1Ep. 40

Exploring Conservation Learning

Dr. Brian Ogle, Director of Conservation Learning & Audience Impact, walks us through all the incredible new changes coming to this department - including new camps and classes that you can join in on right now!

Mar 17, 2024•30 min•Season 1Ep. 39

Relisten: Bringing Up Bears

In honor of #FebruBEARy, we're re-sharing our "Bringing Up Bears" episode from February 2023! Brevard Zoo's director of animal programs Lauren Hinson and Wild Florida Area Supervisor Marc Franzen shared the stories of our three Florida black bears and how our Zoo helps them live their best lives with us.

Feb 25, 2024•51 min•Season 1Ep. 38