MEMPHIS, Tenn. — There’s a new brew on sale at the Memphis Zoo, and it helps one of the most successful conservation programs there.
Zoo Brew was created in partnership with Grind City Brewery. It’s the first-ever Memphis Zoo beer.
The pilsner-style lager with lime is sold exclusively at the zoo, and it’s all for a great cause.
The can features a Louisiana Pine Snake, which the Memphis Zoo has been a leader in saving since 2010 with its conservation program.
Proceeds from the sale of each can go directly to the Memphis Zoo’s Pine Snake Conservation Program.
About Louisiana Pine Snakes (from the Memphis Zoo):
The Louisiana Pine Snake is an endangered species native to the longleaf pine forests of Louisiana and Texas. They prefer the sandy, well-drained soils of open pine forests. They are the rarest snakes in North America. They are non-venomous with distinctive tan bodies patterned with blackish-brown splotches down their back. Their main prey source is the pocket gopher, which is prevalent in their ecosystem. They tend to live in the holes of pocket gophers and spend more than half their lives below ground. This snake species is unique in that they not only lay the largest eggs of any snake in North America, but they produce the fewest eggs per clutch. This low fecundity rate magnifies the other threats to pine snakes, such as deforestation, that negatively impacts their population sizes. Without the leadership of the Memphis Zoo research team, the populations of the Louisiana pine snake would have been decimated and lost to their natural environment forever.
