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Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Wildlife Wednesday: Baby Hesty

Baby Hesty is back with her mommy at the Denver Zoo and made her public debut this weekend - no doubt to lots of cooing from local onlookers. Check out the video.

I haven't been down there to see her yet, but I will, and, if you are one of my local readers, I suggest you do the same - for a couple of reasons.
First, it's not every day you get the opportunity to see a baby orangutan up close. Second, every time you visit the Denver Zoo, you are contributing to the greater conservation efforts of the Denver Zoological Society.
This is more or less true of every zoo in every municipality anymore. There was a time long ago when zoos were little more than carnival exhibits of exotic animals in cages captured for the amusement of the viewing public. This is no longer the case. The animals that we see in zoos now - like Hesty - were born in captivity. Others, like Bismarck the sea lion, were rescued in the wild and, due to injuries or other maladies, it was decided that a life in pampered captivity was better than almost certain death in the wild.
A good portion of membership and entrance fees are used to promote conservation and education of threatened species.
In short, zoos do good work. They take extremely good care of the animals that live on their grounds. Your visit to the zoo not only gives you an opportunity to see rare and endangered animals, it helps to save them.
So, go to the zoo in your town and go often.

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