From leaping lemurs and 1,000+ species of orchids and hedgehog- and poison dart frog-likes, Madagascar is home to a splendiferous collection of life, the vast majority of which can be found there and nowhere else on Earth.

In this episode, we chat all things Malagasy with primatologist Dr. Tim Eppley, from his opinion on the "Is it cute or terrifying?" debate about the Aye-Aye to the titanic (and regrettably extinct) Elephant Bird. We also dive into the work of his nonprofit, Wildlife Madagascar, to preserve this island nation's rich ecology by working hand in hand with the Malagasy people to shore up their livelihoods and food security.

Dr. Eppley will be visiting the Aquarium as a guest speaker at an event on April 7. He'll discuss his work and sign copies of his book, Lemurs of Madagascar, alongside Aquarium staffers who work with Malagasy species such as Ring-tailed Lemurs and Radiated Tortoises.

For more information about this event, visit https://www.tnaqua.org/calendar

To learn more about Wildlife Madagascar, visit https://www.wildlifemadagascar.org

Episode Cast

• Casey Phillips, host/senior communications specialist
• Dr. Tim Eppley, primatologist and chief conservation officer for Wildlife Madagascar

The Podcast Aquatic is made possible by support from The Tennessee Conservationist, the official magazine of Tennessee State Parks.

Printed sustainably on 100% post-consumer recycled paper with UV ink, each issue is filled with fascinating stories about Tennessee’s native species, rich history, and unique culture. It’s also your guide to exploring state parks and planning your next outdoor adventure.

Become a Tennessee Conservationist and subscribe at tnconservationist.org.

Join other conservation enthusiasts and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

In the zoo and aquarium world, creating true-to-wild habitats is critically important, but simply building these miniature worlds for our residents isn’t good enough. After all, even the most beautiful home would start to feel stifling if every day inside was the same and nothing ever changed.

To keep the animals’ lives interesting and stimulating, our caretakers place immense priority on dreaming up and creating new forms of enrichment. Whether it’s a new scent, a treat delivered in a puzzling container, a “painting” session or the temporary addition of sprinklers, snow or even bubbles, these tweaks and alterations keep life interesting, encourage mental and physical exercise and reinforce natural behaviors.

In this episode, two of the Aquarium’s most enthusiastic enrichment champions about why enrichment matters, some of their favorite enrichment success stories and how they devise new ways to keep the animals on their toes, fins and claws.

Episode cast

• Casey Phillips, host and senior communications specialist
• Maggie Sipe, Ocean Journey lead animal care specialist
• Jennifer McPheeters, River Journey lead animal care specialist

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The Podcast Aquatic is made possible by support from The Tennessee Conservationist, the official magazine of Tennessee State Parks.

Printed sustainably on 100% post-consumer recycled paper with UV ink, each issue is filled with fascinating stories about Tennessee’s native species, rich history, and unique culture. It’s also your guide to exploring state parks and planning your next outdoor adventure.

Become a Tennessee Conservationist and subscribe at tnconservationist.org.

Join other conservation enthusiasts and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Excitement continues to mount on our campus as we anticipate the March 7 opening of our all-new Scuttlebutt Reef gallery.

In the previous episode of the show, we took a top-level view of this exciting collection of habitats. This week, we’re zeroing in on what could be described as the gallery’s “centerpiece”: a massive, 6,000-gallon living reef exhibit.

This bustling aquatic community was designed and built fromscratch by two of our aquarists, who join us on the episode about halfway through the construction process (at the time of recording). We chat about species selection, the challenges of caring for coral and the many other steps involved in designing a reef that’s pleasant for the animals to live in and for our guests to visit.

Check out the previous, overview episode on Scuttlebutt Reef here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0XrC5hE2A3P9Rte8yxFr46?si=3bf282f7ccdc4973

Watch the first of our two-part video docu-series about theconstruction of this exhibit: https://youtu.be/6aqTBv8YMSo

Episode Cast

• Casey Phillips, host/senior communicationsspecialist
• Kyle McPheeters, life support systems lead aquarist
• Sarah Kate Bailey, aquarist II

The Podcast Aquatic is made possible by support from The Tennessee Conservationist, the official magazine of Tennessee State Parks.

Printed sustainably on 100% post-consumer recycled paper with UV ink, each issue is filled with fascinating stories about Tennessee’s native species, rich history, and unique culture.

It’s also your guide to exploring state parks and planning your next outdoor adventure.

Become a Tennessee Conservationist and subscribe at tnconservationist.org.

Join other conservation enthusiasts and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

[Episode cover art is of a War Coral (Favites pentagona) and was taken by Communications Content Creator II Doug Strickland.]