Gwen Scott wakes up every morning, grabs her cup of coffee, listens to the singing of white-handed gibbons, and sets off to feed more than 150 exotic animals living in her backyard. TGR Exotics is home to Scott's eclectic collection of animals and a hands-on learning experience for visitors.

Children, families and animal lovers flock to see the hundreds of animals from different regions of the world who call TGR Exotics Wildlife Park home. Those include Falcore, the howler monkey, Jewel, the red kangaroo, and Bill, an American bison.

The park offers opportunities to see animals from around the world through its zoo tours, open zoo hours, camps, clubs, volunteer opportunities and community outreach programs.

The Scotts bought their first animal—a pot-bellied pig—about 21 years ago, and their collection has expanded ever since.

"There were these big ranches out far away from here, and they had all these amazing animals," Scott said. "So my husband [Troy] thought, this is amazing. We got a pair a llamas, a pair of miniature horses, a pair of donkeys and decided what we like best."

The 10-acre park has grown to house more than 150 animals today, including red kangaroos, gibbons, warthogs, howler monkeys and bison. Scott said the animals come from Australia, Asia, Africa, and South and North America.

TGR Exotics gets its animals from other private zoos, breeders and occasional donations.

Building a similar wildlife park today would be difficult, Scott said, because the park was grandfathered in, allowing it to circumvent recent wild and dangerous animal laws.

However, Scott said there are several mandates as well as veterinary and financial responsibilities to consider before purchasing any exotic animals.

"To me, if you make a commitment to buy animals you have to realize, are you going to be able to house them properly?" Scott said. "Are you going to be able to feed them properly? If it gets sick, are you going to be able to fix that when they say it's going to cost you $3,000? That's the biggest thing. You have to make that commitment to that animal. There is no one else taking care of it other than you."

Scott said she plans to buy new animals in the future, but she has not decided on which wild critter it may be just yet.