From google.com:

Idaho members of a group that advocates for the right to openly carry handguns in public are turning heads by touring Zoo Boise while packing guns on their hips.

Ten members of OpenCarry.org were allowed into the zoo Saturday after some initial confusion at the entrance about whether it was legal to bring an unconcealed handgun inside.

Group member Carol Schultz of Nampa says: “Coming to the zoo was something we could do together, like any family would.”

Schultz says she’s never without her handgun that she keeps in a holster attached to a heart-studded belt.

Zoo visitor Alex Lundgren of Boise questioned the group’s decision to bring firearms.

He says: “Legal and appropriate are two different things.

Link

(photos by Dr. Disney)

Minnessota Zoo

On Saturday we had beautiful weather and spent the day with our kids at the Minnesota Zoo. The zoo is very large and diverse and in a very heavily wooded area just south of Minneapolis. It costs about $50 for admission for two kids and two adults, but it is worth the cost –now, more than ever with the opening of Grizzly Coast — a brand new, state-of-the-art attraction celebrating the northern Russian coast.

I can’t even begin to describe how impressed I was with this new exhibit. Obviously, the designers had been to Disney World, especially the Animal Kingdom, but then again why not use some of the world’s best ideas?
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From amphibianark.org:

Amphibian Ark is a group dedicated to saving amphibians like frogs –  encouraging the maintaining of frog populations and even breeding programs. Let’s face it… frogs are a vital link in providing food and also eating vast numbers of insects. – Dr. Disney

In 2008, AArk will lead zoos, botanical gardens and aquariums in a globally coordinated public awareness campaign “The Year of the Frog.” The main goal of this campaign is to generate public awareness and understanding of the amphibian extinction crisis which represents the greatest species conservation challenge in the history of humanity. The money raised from this global campaign will help fund initiatives such as training courses, technical guidance, taxon survival efforts, fostering partnerships, capacity building, and communication activities. All these activities will ensure sustainability of the survival assurance populations of amphibians by creating a cash fund for this conservation work that will extend for beyond 2008.

Zoos, Botanical Gardens and Aquariums play a very important role in this campaign since they can provide the ex-situ breeding grounds for the immediate conservation action so much needed in order to save amphibians.

Link

starbulletin.com (*photo isc.ed)

Honolulu Zoo officials have set up traps, searched underground tunnels and even filed a police report. But nearly three weeks have passed, and there still are no signs of Hulu the missing meerkat.

Hulu mysteriously disappeared Sept. 19 when zoo keepers could not find him in a 500-square-foot enclosure he shares with his friend, Kapa.

“We do a count, and we didn’t count up to two; we only saw the one,” said zoo Director Ken Redman. “We looked at all possibilities, and so far it’s come to no conclusion on anything.”
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