Who’s up for a family-friendly event featuring everything from live music and fair rides to a high-diving show, livestock, giant pumpkins, and exotic animals? You are in luck because it’s all happening over Labor Day Weekend at the Michigan State Fair, and Jim DeBerry, director of Cool Zoo Wildlife Conservation, and his daughter, Annabelle DeBerry, the junior zoo keeper, stopped by “Live in the D” to show off some adorable animals that will be there.
According to Jim DeBerry, Cool Zoo is a wildlife conservation organization that travels around the country fundraising to help critically endangered species, and they focus on sharing information about education and conservation.
The director of this zoo says that many of the animals have been in well-known movies and TV shows like “Dr. Dolittle,” “Pet Detective,” “Cheaper by the Dozen,” and on “Animal Planet.”
Some of the exotic animals featured on the “Live In The D” were Polly the parrot, Molly the Scarlet Macaw, and Lady Roo the Red Karangoo, who is currently six months old. Lady Roo will grow to be six feet tall and can run as fast as forty-five miles per hour.
Sloths, alligators, hermit crabs, water turtles, and giant tortoises will also be on display at the Michigan State Fair’s zoo exhibit, which visitors can walk through and interact with. For a small fee, guests can interact with animal ambassadors who have been trained and all of the money goes towards protecting the animals.
The Michigan State Fair will be held at the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi from September 1 to September 5.
Watch the video above for the full interview.