Happy Halloween!

 Happy Halloween, Photo Credit: Cincinnati Zoo

Satire: Costume Ideas

 Halloween is just the day after tomorrow.  Looking for costume ideas?  Look no further:

PS: I still can't understand why people think we actually wear safari suits to work...

The Endangered Jack o' Lantern

It's hard to believe that Halloween is just on the other side of this weekend.  Are you prepared?  Cool costume?  Decorated?  Plenty of candy (ideally with sustainable palm oil, or no palm oil at all)? What about your pumpkins?

If you still have a jack o' lantern to be to carve, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums has a humble suggestion or two (or eight).  On the AZA website are templates for eight animal-themed carved pumpkins, each focused on a species or group of species highlighted in their SAFE (Saving Animals From Extinction) campaign - red wolf, Asian elephant, giraffe, lion, monarch butterfly, North American songbird, sea turtle, and shark.  Setting out a carved pumpkin with one of these designs doesn't just make for a cool Halloween decoration - it's a great conversation starter about some fascinating animals that need our help.

Check out the pumpkin carving templates here!

A Swan in Autumn

No real post or news today, just sharing an absolutely lovely photo I saw on Facebook, taken by Kyoji Nakano at the Lincoln Park Zoo.  It's pictures like this that remind that somedays (most days, actually), the best thing for the spirit is just to get out of the office/barn/dens/wherever you're working and take a stroll around, enjoying the change of the seasons and the pageantry of the animals.

Species Fact Profile: Warren's Girdled Lizard (Smaug warreni)

 Warren's Girdled Lizard (Lebombo Dragon)                          

                                                Smaug warreni (Boulenger, 1908)

Range: Southern Africa (South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana)

Habitat:  Wooded Savannah, Mountain Slopes 

Diet: Large Arthropods (especially termites), Small Vertebrates.  Some plant matter

Social Grouping: Groups of up to 60 (usually fewer), with males being territorial of rock heaps

Reproduction: Ovoviviparous.  Breeding takes place September through October.  1-2 young born live after a gestation period 6-8 months.  Females may breed every other year.  Sexually mature when they reach a body length of about 9-10 centimeters

Lifespan: 20-25 Years

      Conservation Status: IUCN Least Concern, CITES Appendix II

•       Snout to tail length 10-13 centimeters, with tail slightly longer than that
•       Dorsal coloration sandy brown with 5-6 darker bands.  Sides and belly are pale with brown markings, paler on the throat.  Back and tail are covered with armor-like plates
•       Species name honors British zoologist Ernest Warren, who collected the first specimen
•       Sometimes also called "armadillo lizards" because of their defensive mechanism.  When threatened, curl into a ring, protecting vulnerable belly with spiny dorsal surface.  May then bite tail to form a circle.  
•       Communicate with tail wags, head bobs, and tongue-flicks to demonstrate dominance
•       Natural range is small, specialized, and isolated, but species is still considered secure in the wild.  Exported for the pet trade, but not believed to be unsustainable at this point

Trick or Treat or Tiger

A child in a T-rex costume provided some unplanned enrichment at the Indianapolis Zoo. 

Death of a Zoo

I've spent quite a decent amount of time in Maryland, and have visited most of its zoological attractions.  The National Aquarium in Baltimore is the state's most popular tourist attraction, and is located just across town from the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore.  Down on the Eastern Shore is the small, charming Salisbury Zoo, which I have many happy memories of.  Northern Maryland has the Catoctin Zoo in the western-central part of the states, while tucked away into the northeastern corner is the Plumpton Park Zoo.  There are also a few science centers and local museums/nature centers with animals tucked away in them.

There is one Maryland facility which I'd never visited - Tri-State Zoological Park, in Cumberland, MD.  And it doesn't look like I'm going to.  The zoo has just closed, its animals dispersed to other facilities.

Tri-State was never a facility with a great reputation. Funding was lacking, facilities were less than ideal, and the whole place was run by volunteers.  The first I'd heard of it was years ago when a fire destroyed many of its animals in holding.  Then, a few years ago, a lawsuit brought by PETA led to the removal of the park's big cats.  Now, the final sweep has been made, and the last animals at Tri-State have been rehomed, either to AZA facilities or to sanctuaries.  After years of contentious legal battles, the zoo is no more.

Photo Credit: Washington Post

Tri-State isn't the only small, unaccredited zoo to be shuttered in recent years.  I always have mixed feelings when I hear about them.  I wonder about what happened to those places.  Was it a lack of financial resources and expertise that led to inadequate facilities and care?  Could they have been turned around with some support and mentoring?  After all, many of the finest zoos in the US now were pretty crummy just a few decades ago.  Or were they crippled by leadership that didn't especially care, and would have happily kept doing things just the way they were until forced to do otherwise.

The involvement of PETA working alongside AZA makes some zoo professionals wary, as makes sense when your fellow traveler is philosophically opposed to your very existence.  Just because we disagree with them in many cases doesn't mean that they aren't right on some matters, and on this matter, they were right - Tri-State was not a suitable home for these animals.  Neither PETA nor AZA has any legal or regulatory authority on their own, but they can work to influence government authorities such as USDA and USFWS, which can enforce laws and regulations, but often require a bit of a nudge to do so.

Sometimes, securing that change to make better lives for individual animals means putting aside differences and working together.  Sometimes, common ground can be found.

Define "Zoo"

On the same trip through southern California that took me to the Aquarium of the Pacific, the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, and the Los Angeles Zoo, I once split an afternoon between two very interesting institutions literally next door to one another.  One is the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.  The other is the California Science Center.  

The former is a very nice, comprehensive natural history museum with fossils, taxidermy mounts, and minerals.  It also has a small collection of live animals, both insects and arachnids in a bug zoo, as well as a small lab space on the ground floor with a handful of snakes, turtles, and other small native creatures.  The later is a general kid-friendly science museum, with exhibits on a variety of topics (not least of all a space shuttle), but also some small exhibits of wildlife, from Malagasy geckos to fennec foxes, as well as an aquarium section.

Kelp forest display in the aquarium at the California Science Center

There was a lot that I'd wanted to do in Los Angeles that day, and while I definitely would have hit the Natural History Museum (I'd been to its sister facility at the La Brea Tar Pits earlier that day)  I might not have given the Science Center much thought if I hadn't known that it was an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.   The Natural History Museum is not, nor would have I expected it to be, what with the small size of its animal collection.

That did raise a thought for me - at what point does a facility that houses and displays animals become a zoo or aquarium?  Is there a size limit?  A proportion of the collection that is live animals versus other exhibits?  The National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC has a live insect and arachnid collection; they call it the Insect Zoo, but I never really thought of it as a zoo.  Does it matter what the breakdown is in native versus exotic species?  If so, where is the cut off from a small local nature center versus a facility that specializes in native wildlife, as Cabrillo Marine Aquarium does?  I've gone into pet stores without any intention of buying things before, but just to look at the birds, herps, and fish, especially at specialty stores with lots of novel species.  That sounds sort of zoo-ish, but it's not, is it?

A friend of mine is a docent at a museum that has a few small animal displays.  He wanted me to help him encourage his boss to apply for AZA accreditation.  I tried explaining that the cost and effort that would go into that process far, far outweighed any benefit the facility would obtain.  They wouldn't be participating in breeding programs or swapping animals.  It would be a nice validation of their level of animal care, but animal care is only one part of the accreditation process.  I don't need AZA to come to my home to tell me how well I'm caring for my pets.

So, there is a line somewhere.  I just have trouble seeing exactly where it is.

Western pond turtle at Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

Zoo Review: Cabrillo Marine Aquarium

The Monterey Bay Aquarium and Aquarium of the Pacific are big, flashy facilities, the sort of mega-aquariums which I have done most of my reviews for on this blog.  On the same trip to the Los Angeles area that I made to see Long Beach, I visited another aquarium, however, a far different one.  Cabrillo Marine Aquarium traces its origins back to 1935 (one of the older public aquariums in the US), when John Olgiun, head lifeguard of Cabrillo Beach, set up a small museum of live aquatic specimens in one of the beach's bathhouses.  It moved to its current location in 1981.  For much of its early history, the facility was known as the Cabrillo Marine Museum, not changing its name to "Aquarium" until the 1990s.

As I strolled through the facility, it occurred to me that Museum would have been an apt title to keep in the name of the Aquarium.  I don't think I've ever seen an aquarium that seemed to have such a scholarly focus.  One of the first takeaways I had of the building was how light it was - all the better to read the signage.  Of which there was a lot.  And, I might add, of excellent quality.  Nor were the educational materials limited to signs.  There are interactive devices, such as one the replicates the tides and waves, models of animals that are too hard to keep or preserve, and preserved specimens of others.  Among the later was a small (five foot or so) great white shark, which as far as I can recall is the only one I've ever seen (I've never seen a live one).  There's also a laboratory open to the public and an excellent library, which was unfortunately closed during my visit, as I'd loved to have browsed it.

It's considered common knowledge in zoos and aquariums that no one reads signs and that educational features are never utilized.  Perhaps, but in Cabrillo (which was fairly crowded that day), I saw lots of people reading them and interacting, so maybe visitors are more intellectually curious than we give them credit for being.

Cabrillo's collection is limited to the species native to the immediate area, and only consists of fish and invertebrates - no sea turtles, no shorebirds, no marine mammals.  Most of the tanks are of a fairly small size, which makes sense given the size of the inhabitants.  There aren't the massive ocean tanks that are seen in many larger aquariums, so no grand vistas of coral reefs or kelp forests (there is a tidal pool touch tank, one of the staples of virtually all aquariums).  Instead, these tanks offer smaller, more intimate views of sea life.  The emphasis of the collection also means that, instead of the handful of marine species which are so often displayed at so many aquariums, there's a unique variety of creatures that aren't typically seen.  I don't pay as much attention of fish and inverts as I do mammals, birds, and herps when visiting facilities, and don't keep as careful of a count of new species, but I know that I saw several new species within the first few minutes of exploring.

Among these was a species which is closely associated with the history of the aquarium, the grunion.  These tiny little silversides have a unique breeding ritual which sees the fish crawling onto the beach itself.  It was the fascinating life cycle of these local fish which initially led to the interest in the aquarium.  It's one of the coolest fish behaviors I know of, and I had no idea that it even existing until I visited this place.  Leopard sharks may be the star of the aquarium in the eyes of most visitors, they're big and beautiful, after all, but I've seen those in dozens of places.  This was something new and exciting for me - as were many of the other strange fish and invertebrates here.

I love big, fancy aquariums and zoos which pull together creatures from around the world.  But there's also something to be said for a facility like Cabrillo Marine Aquarium (which I have come to think of as the aquatic version of the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum) that focuses on its own backyard and on the education of the visitors.  There's less grandeur and overawing magnificence in its exhibits or animals than at the big facilities.  Instead, there's a special peek into a smaller, more unseen world that many of us would never suspect existed.

Cabrillo Marine Aquarium

National Vet Tech Week

Yesterday kicked off the beginning of National Vet Tech Week, celebrating some of the truly unsung heroes of the zoo and aquarium world.  From private vet practices to zoos and aquariums, vet techs are, in many ways, what keep animal health practices running.  They are nurses, surgical assistants, lab analysts, and more.  At some zoos, they also serve as the keepers for animals that are staying in the hospital or quarantine, providing food, cleaning, and enrichment.  In very small facilities, there might not be a full-time vet on staff, just one on contract, in which case most the medical management of the animal collection falls in their hands.

Running our zoos and keeping animals healthy and happy would be impossible without the tremendous work that these dedicated staff members put in.  Thank you for all that you do!

Cone of Shame

There's a saying I heard years ago, which I believe more each year, that states, "If you put ten zookeepers in a room, the only thing that you can get nine of them to agree on is that the tenth one is doing something incorrectly."  We're an opinionated bunch on the subject of animal care, with strong preferences and strong beliefs.  The more experience you get about animals, the easier it becomes to spot when someone is doing something wrong.

Granted, some things that are "wrong" may be preferences based on factors that you might not be able to tell at a glance, so really not "wrong" at all.  Other times, however, you may pick up on things that are potentially dangerous, resulting in less than adequate welfare, or otherwise unsafe/unsatisfactory from the perspective of the animal.  In those situations, what do you do?

As much as they love to dish it out, many animal care folks hate to receive criticism, and, regrettably, I've seen several who, in the face of perfectly valid comments about ways that they could improve or correct their care, clamp up and double down.  This becomes especially obvious when seen on the internet, in the lack of actual human connection, when criticisms become sharper and more exaggerated, and defenses became more recalcitrant.

So, if there is one thing I've learned, either in person or via the net, whether it's a zoo colleague or a private pet owner, it's this:  shaming doesn't work.  It actually hurts, more often.  They say there's nothing more dangerous than a wounded animal, but there is - wounded pride.  When we're confronted with an animal experiencing suboptimal care, our goal shouldn't be to win points in a public forum or virtue signal.  It needs to be improving that animal's situation.  In those contexts, gentle persuasion, appealing to a caretaker's better instincts, and offers of helpful, practical advice are best.  Much of the time, the caretaker is willing and eager to do better, and just needs guidance on how to start.

Granted, there are times when you do just need to call stuff out, when the kids glove approach has failed, or when the problem is driven by factors other than innocent ignorance, such as greed, indifference, or actual malice.  Thankfully, I find those cases to be fewer and further apart.  Most of the time, people want to do what is best for their animals.  If you can help them reach that goal, they won't be angry or defensive.  They may actually thank you.  

From the News: Pangolin Birth at Brookfield Zoo

Chicago's Brookfield Zoo is the only facility in the country to publicly exhibit pangolins, one of the most remarkably, highly-trafficked endangered species on the planet.  Despite their endangered status and pressing conservation need, pangolins have traditionally been omitted from zoo collections on the basis of the fact that they've done very poorly in zoo settings, particularly in regards to their diet.  It wasn't uncommon for zoo collecting expeditions to opt not to collect pangolins under the assumption that they wouldn't survive. 

Even so, confiscated pangolins occasionally were turning up in zoos and gradually more and more facilities began to have success keeping these still-challenging animals.  Earlier this year, Brookfield Zoo became the only US facility to celebrate the second-generation birth of a pangolin, the white-bellied tree pangolin, to be specific.  "Second-generation" means that the parents themselves were also born under human care.  This is tremendously exciting news for the efforts to build a sustainable population of this species under human care, especially if more rescued pangolins are brought into collections.   If pangolins can be kept healthy and bred reliably, a vital insurance colony of these endangered creatures can be established.

Pumpkin Spice Enrichment

It wouldn't be October without zoos and aquariums sharing footage of their animals going to town on everyone's favorite orange holiday treat!

Indigenous America

In recent years, there has been a push to rebrand Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day, both in a distancing tactic from Christopher Columbus (who, even by the standards of his day, was not an exceptional good person) and an attempt to better highlight the millions of people who were already living on the American continents before he got lost, landed in the West Indies, and said, "Eh, good enough."

Columbus Day itself didn't mean too much in the zoo and aquarium world, other than it was a day when a lot of other businesses are closed (which means today was NOT the day to put off my banking until) and a lot of people don't have work or school, hence higher rates of visitation for a day when the weather is still nice.  Indigenous Peoples Day, however... on that subject I have some thoughts.

• Take the opportunity to highlight the significance of American species in Indigenous culture, history, and livelihoods.  The American bison is the best known example and perhaps the wild animal that we most closely when we think of First Nations, but there are many species with deep connections to Native Americans in story, religion, and history.  When telling these stories, strive for accuracy and sensitivity by working with Native peoples to share this heritage.  This goes double for signage or exhibit design that might have Indigenous themes
• Seek conservation partnerships with Native peoples.  Building on the aforementioned history, many Native American groups have been excellent partners, working with zoos and government agencies to restore native species to their lands.  American bison, swift fox, California condor, and black-footed ferret are just some of the species which have benefited from these partnerships
• Acknowledge that Indigenous Peoples are still here - and that we are living and working on land that was once theirs.  Too often, we treat the First Nations as if they were passenger pigeons - once here, now extinct, lamentably so, but what's done is done and no use crying over it.  This is not true, and believing it absolves us of responsibilities.  When we talk about Native history in zoos, we should remind our audiences that Native Americans aren't just in the past - they are with us to this day, and their cultural and historical ties to the land remain.

Will Monterey Bay Aquarium Feel the Pinch?

I've always felt that zoos and aquariums have a role to play in advocacy, giving voice to wildlife and wild habitats in order to promote the conservation of species.   The problem with advocacy, however, is that it seldom fails to tick someone off.  Consider the current adventures of the Monterey Bay Aquarium.  One of the Aquarium's most famous conservation initiatives is its Seafood Watch, which seeks to encourage visitors to make sustainable seafood purchasing decisions while avoiding less environmentally-friendly options.  Right now, the dish in the crosshairs is one of the most popular delicacies on the seafood market, the American lobster.

Monterey Bay's beef with lobster isn't the crustacean itself.  It's that the fishing practices used to catch lobster are imperiling right whales, which can become entangled in the traps.  Of course, suggesting (and at the end of the day, the Aquarium as no regulatory power, so it is just a suggestion) that people don't buy lobster means less income for lobstermen... which if you were an elected representative from, oh, let's say... Maine... is something that your constituents will not be happy about.  Go figure.

Congressman looks to claw back Monterey Bay Aquarium funding

In revenge, a consortium of Maine elected officials have called for a ban on federal dollars going to Monterey Bay Aquarium.  Simply put (and I say this as someone who loves lobster), I think their wrong.  Using purse strings to stifle legitimate conservation concerns by a nonprofit is not the action of an open society in which data and facts drive decisions.  I have no idea how far the motion will go - it might just be putting on a show.  Still, it does represent the potential dangers and challenges that zoos and aquariums face when they try to speak truth to power.  Sometimes, power speaks back.  Loudly.

Species Fact Profile: Wood Turtle (Glyptemys insculpta)

    Wood Turtle
                          Glyptemys insculpta (Le Conte, 1830)

Range: Eastern Canada and Northeastern United States

Habitat:  Temperate Forests, usually in association with moving freshwater, especially sand-bottomed streams.  Sometimes occur in wetlands or meadows. 

Diet: Leaves, Flowers, Fruits, Fungi, Invertebrates

Social Grouping: Solitary

Reproduction: Mating takes place throughout the active season, but most often in spring and fall. Females nest in May or June, digging nest cavities about 5-13 centimeters deep in sandy, sunny areas near water.  3-18 (usually 5-13) eggs are laid and buried, the site smoothed over by the female for camouflage.   No further parental care.  Females often breed every other year.  Incubation period 47-69 days.  Juveniles are 2.8-3.8 centimeters long at time of hatching.  Sexual maturity reached at 14-20 years of age, can breed for decades.

Lifespan: 40-60 Years

      Conservation Status: IUCN Endangered, CITES Appendix I

•       Carapace length 16-25 centimeters, males slightly larger than females.  Weigh up to 1 kilogram. Males and females generally similar, but adult males have wider heads, higher, more domed carapaces, concave plastrons, and longer, thicker tails
•       Carapace is brown or gray-brown, flattened with a low central keel, sometimes with radiating yellow patterning on the scutes of the keel.  Scutes have a rough, sculptured appearance that gives the species name.  Plastron is yellow with a black blotch at the rear outer corner of each scute.  Plastron is not hinged.  The head is black, sometimes with light-colored markings.  Skin of the throat, lower neck, and the lower surface of the legs can be a red-orange       
•       Males may fight for access to females.  Courtship involves a dance in which the male and female face each other, swinging back and forth.  Then, the male may nip at the female and pursue her before mounting and copulating.  Copulation often takes place is shallow water.        
•       Unlike many closely related turtles, incubation temperature does not determine hatchling sex.  
•       Predators include snapping turtles, raccoons, otters, and foxes (mostly predate young turtles).  Also susceptible to leech parasitism – a major purpose of basking may be to dislodge leeches
•       Hibernate during the cooler months (October through April in northern US), often in shallow streams, sometimes in muskrat burrows.  Less often will hibernate on dry land.  Active by day, spending much of the time basking.  During periods of very hot weather it may estivate. 
•       Found in much denser populations in the south than the north.  Not especially territorial.  Typically remain faithful to home ranges and do not wander.  They do, however, have good navigational and homing skills; turtles removed 8 kilometers from their home range and then released have been able to find their way back
•       Slow feeders, incapable of capturing fast-moving prey such as fish, but will opportunistically eat whatever they can find, including carrion, eggs, and baby rodents in nests
•       Have been observed thumping on the ground with either the forefeet or the plastron, the vibrations of which may cause earthworms to emerge from the ground where they can be taken
•       Genus name translates to “Carved Turtle,” species name to “sculpted.”  
•       Direct removal from habitat by humans is primary cause of decline.  Historically have been heavily collected for food, laboratory use, and for the pet trade.  Other threats include road mortality and human vandalism.  One previously unexploited population was almost completely wiped out within a decade of exposure to humans
•       Also threatened by habitat loss and disturbance.  Tolerant of some habitat usage (logging, agriculture), but heavy machinery and kill turtles and destroy nesting sites.  Aquaculture often involves destruction of prime nesting locations.  Human activities have resulted in growth of raccoon populations, which increase predation pressure on nests
•       Considered one of the most intelligent of turtles; laboratory specimens can learn and navigate a maze as well as a rat can

The Infinite Pet

 From the Facebook page, "Humans of New York":

Bottoms Up

For many folks, October is synonymous with Halloween.  For a substantial portion of the population, however, there is another holiday that takes precedent before trick-or-treating - Oktoberfest.  Just like you don't have to be Irish to enjoy St. Patrick's Day, you don't have to be German to celebrate Oktoberfest.  All you have to do is appreciate beer.  Which, I can't help but notice, many people do.

Zoos and aquariums have never been shy about jumping into the holidays, and Oktoberfest is no exception.  Some zoos hold OktoBEARfest, or CROCtoberfest, or any of the other animal puns which our marketing teams are drawn to like flies towards our poop-caked work boots.  Nor is the festivity limited to October.  Many zoos offer alcohol-themed events, such as beer or wine festivals, throughout the year.  An increasing number of facilities sell beer as part of their regular concessions.  I remember being scandalized as a middle-school age kid visiting SeaWorld San Diego decades ago when I saw people walking around the exhibits with beers.  I told myself that it was because SeaWorld was also a theme park, not a typical zoo or aquarium.  These days, I feel like it's the rare zoo that doesn't have some alcoholic options.  On a recent visit to the San Diego Zoo, members of my group had booze throughout the day-long excursion, from Irish coffee first thing in the morning to a margarita on the way out the gate that night.

Photo Credit: Smithsonian National Zoo

Now, Americans are known for their somewhat puritanical take on such things, and I'm a non-drinker myself, so it took me a little while to step back and ask - is this actually a problem?

Short answer I've settled on is - it could be.  But probably not.

When we think of alcohol, we tend to think of drunkenness and all of the shenanigans that go with it.  We envision loud, rowdy drunk patrons, visitors getting handsy with staff (and possibly winding up with a pitchfork in the eye as a result), or, worst case scenario, some drunk patron toppling over the moat into an exhibit.  What could possibly make the experience of working the zoo more stressful than having drunk, unruly visitors?  Unless, of course, they were drunk, unruly, and armed, which is an entirely separate issue that zoos in some states have to worry about.  Other concerns are less about safety than about image.  Those of us who work in zoos like to think of ourselves working towards the higher goals of the institution - conservation, education, research, inspiration.  Selling beer makes it feel more like a sports stadium or amusement park, which, to be fair, is home some people see us.

On day to day operations, though, alcohol is sold basically as a concession.  It's not a bar.  No one is sitting by the snack bar downing beer after beer, so it's unlikely anyone is actually getting loaded (especially at the prices we charge).  Staff can cut visitors off, and we do have security on grounds, of course.  Serving a little beer and wine not only generates a little more revenue for the zoo, it can also help attract an age demographic that we might not see as much of otherwise.

Beer and wine festivals are a little different, since there the focus is more on the booze as a main feature rather than simply as a beverage option alongside soda or coffee.  These events don't just happen as a free-for-all, however.  Servings are limited and monitored, staff are on hand to address possible behavioral problems.  Such events can be major fundraisers for zoos and aquariums, helping to channel monies into animal care programs or field conservation.  

My own attitudes about alcohol in zoos have softened considerably since my first initial shock at smelling spilled beer outside Shamu Stadium.  Now, I see beer festivals and the like as a vital part of our fundraising effort to help support and grow the zoo.  Under some circumstances, alcohol companies can be major sponsors of zoos, such as the St. Louis Zoo, which has benefited mightily over the years from the patronage of Anheuser-Busch.  

In other cases, alcohol might even dovetail with the zoo's educational message.  The Louisville Zoo has recently announced that they are planning a major new exhibit of Kentucky wildlife.  One planned feature of the new complex?  An exhibit on bourbon.

Don't Tap the Glass

Getting into the Halloween spirit with the keepers of the Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield, Missouri.  You have been warned...