Are you impassioned about animals?
Discover exactly what it is like to feed, clean and care for exotic, wonderful wildlife. Go eye to eye with a bongo or neck and neck with a giraffe.

Have fun working among the animals. Prepare and distribute diets for many of our residents including zebra, giraffes, and many more.

Spend the day with our knowledgeable staff feeding and caring for the Brights Zoo family of animals. You will receive a Brights Zoo t-shirt to commemorate your exciting experience!

Are you curious what it is like to be a zookeeper?
Many zookeepers have attended college to learn the science behind the responsibilities of being a keeper. Many people misunderstand what a zookeeper actually does. Keepers work hard behind the scenes to make sure that guests have an enjoyable experience while visiting the zoo. A keeper's main focus is on the animals they care for and duties such as daily feeding, health checks, enrichment and training. Keepers spend a large portion of their day cleaning (sounds fun, right?). Without the zookeeper profession, zoos would unable to stay open.

What is the keeper for a day?
The keeper for a day tour is your ticket to spending the day seeing the zoo from a keeper's perspective. A large portion of your day will be spent behind the scenes. You will see how diets are prepared (you can even help prepare those diets).   You will get to accompany the keepers as they feed the animals in the zoo. You will get to help prepare enrichment activities and learn more about why enriching the animals is so important.

Reservations: Contact David Bright, Zoo Director at (423) 257-1927.

Good to know: These special tours are based upon availability and need to be reserved before your arrival! Please understand we can only schedule a few of these a day, therefore, we may not be able to accommodate your request. All animal encounters are based on availability and dependent upon animal behavior.

Price: $300 per person (maximum of 2 people). Lunch and a t-shirt will be provided for you.  

Hours: Most people will choose to arrive at 9:00 am and leave around 4:30 or 5. However, you can start as early as 8:00 am.

Photos: We encourage guests to photograph whatever interest them. In fact, ask your guide to help you get in the photos while in public areas of the zoo. We do not allow any photography in non public areas.