When you see crews trimming trees near power lines, they’re lowering the odds that limbs will fall onto the lines and knock out power. WVPE’s Jeff Parrott reports on another benefit to the practice in Michiana.
Indiana Michigan Power doesn’t throw out all of those tree trimmings. Since 2021 they’ve been taking them to South Bend’s Potawatomi Zoo, in what they call their Branch to Browse program.
Browse is the term that describes tree branches and twigs that are essential to the diets of animals with chambered stomachs, including giraffes, okapi, kudu and gazelle. Zoo Executive Director Josh Sisk explains.
“It’s such a win-win for us because we have six giraffes and they need a tremendous amount of browse," Sisk says. "Otherwise we’d have to have staff going out into the community and cutting all of this.”
Sisk says browse can’t be just any tree species.
“Trees like elm, mulberry, the oriental pear is a good one that the animals love. But for instance we can’t take oak, we can’t take maple, so I&M, they’ve kind of learned what we can take and what we can’t take. Usually if they’re clearing an area, it’s usually one species of tree, so for the most part they bring us kind of basically what we need.”
