When Akron zookeepers bring out branches for goats, lemurs and tufted deer, it's hard to tell who enjoyed the feeding more—the animals or the kids watching. The giggles are infectious, and it's impossible not to smile when you hear them.

Thanks to a collaboration with FirstEnergy, local zoos in its northeast and northwest Ohio footprint have an abundance of nutritious branches and buds to keep kids laughing as they also keep their animals happy and healthy. The donations are tree trimmings collected while clearing vegetation along power lines, which helps keep electricity flowing safely and reliably across the company's Ohio service area.

Watch a video of animals receiving their feedings on FirstEnergy's YouTube channel.

Trees are a leading cause of power outages. As part of its vegetation management program, FirstEnergy's forestry workers routinely trim trees to help prevent or minimize the impact of tree-related outages and enhance electric service reliability.

"This unique collaboration allows us to repurpose the trimmings generated by our day-to-day operations to benefit the beloved animals at the Akron Zoo," said FirstEnergy Forestry Services Manager Tara Weckerly. "This initiative fills us with pride as it promises to contribute to the thriving wellbeing of zoo animals. FirstEnergy is headquartered here in Akron and it's a perfect opportunity!"

Each week, the Akron Zoo collects a portion of FirstEnergy's trimmings, which are called browse, from various locations in greater Akron. The sticks, leaves and buds are high in fiber and an important part of the animals' diet. Chewing on browse can also improve dental health.

"We are very grateful and excited for this new collaboration with FirstEnergy," said Shane Good, senior director of animal care at Akron Zoo. "The Akron Zoo has wanted to increase the scope of our browse program for long-term growth of the zoo, and FirstEnergy has allowed us to accomplish this. This natural food source improves animal wellbeing, which is a top priority for the Akron Zoo."

The primate and hoofstock species, such as lemurs, tufted deer, alpaca and goats typically benefit from FirstEnergy's browse donations.

Prior to the collaboration, the Akron Zoo was able to intermittingly collect browse from zoo grounds, but this was not a long-term possibility. Now, the zoo has enough browse to provide to the current animals daily. The donations from FirstEnergy will also help sustain the zoo's efforts to provide the animals with browse as the zoo continues to expand.

FirstEnergy also works with the Toledo Zoo to donate browse on occasion, and the company helps collect browse for the Cleveland Zoo when trimming on Metroparks property.

Learn more about FirstEnergy's corporate responsibility efforts here.

Media Contact: Hannah Catlett 440-554-5346