Zoo feeds animals with road kill

NEW JERSEY (MY9NJ) - The lions and tigers at Space Farms Zoo and Museum in Wantage, N.J. owe their healthy teeth and shiny coats to a unique type of cat chow: roadkill deer.

For 10 years, the zoo has contracted with four nearby counties to pick up deer that have been struck and killed by vehicles.

The entire process starts with a truck with a mechanical hoist that lifts the deer corpse into the bed of the pickup.

The bodies are then transported back to the zoo and cut apart.  The meat is then taken to the cages where the jaguars, panthers, lions and tigers devour the fresh killed venison.

The zoo can collect thousands of deer a year and get paid to do it, saving a lot of money to feed the carnivores.

This season will be the 90th for the zoo.  To learn more visit spacefarms.com.