What’s new at the zoo?
An African adventure

Kids Stuff
By William Feldman

Welcome to Kids Stuff. Today’s column includes a look at the Philadelphia Zoo; a contest reminder; and a cryptogram.

THE ZOO
Having a contest and giving away tickets to the Philadelphia Zoo, located at 34th Street and Girard Avenue, I thought this would be a great time to write about the zoo and some of its new exhibits. There are so many great facts you can learn about animals, which we all love to see.
The zoo now has a new, virtual 3-D interactive adventure safari ride known as the Dodge Wild Earth. Riders enter vehicles and choose whether to be the driver or photographer. The riders follow the African Serengeti and drive up to animals that live there, including cheetahs, hippos and wild dogs.
This ride allows the passengers to actually feel like they are driving in Africa following these animals. The story is told by two Philadelphia Zoo employees, Ron Fricke and Donielle Wright. When you’re done your adventure, you are given a souvenir newspaper that has stories about your journey, including photos.
One of my favorite interactive exhibits is the Lories and Lorikeets bird feeding. Before you enter, you are given a small plastic cup with a type of nectar juice. As you walk in, birds are chirping absolutely everywhere — left, right, up and down.
In a matter of seconds you will have at least one new friend flying down to you drinking the nectar. Don’t worry, you won’t lose this memory. They have a photographer who stands with you and takes your picture.
Another new attraction at the zoo is Zoozapalooza. This exhibit has many facets; however, I did not have a chance to see it all. The magic entertainer — none other than Alex Kazam — performed rope tricks, bag tricks and card tricks. Nearby there was a man juggling and a very tall woman on stilts.
You can learn trivia about the okapis, which is one of the last largest mammals to be discovered by western science. An okapis looks like a donkey, zebra and giraffe, all in one. However, this animal is actually not a donkey or zebra, but is closely related to a giraffe.
If you like bears, you can learn neat facts, like a female bear is called a sow, a male bear is called a boar, black bears are not always black, and bears see in color. Also, you will learn the differences between African and Asian elephants. The day I visited the zoo, the Asian elephant was not out because of a disagreement with another elephant. I learned something here — they are like humans.
It’s good to know the differences between apes and monkeys. Orangutans and gorillas are apes, not monkeys. The exhibit had two types of orangutans: Sumatran and the Borneo. Orangutans are very smart and strong. They build nests at night to sleep in. Gorillas are vegetarians; they do not eat meat, even though you might think of them as big, scary creatures.
According to Samantha Nestor, a member of the education staff and a guide at the primate house to all visitors, the biggest predators of apes are humans. In the next 15 years, gorillas and orangutans will be extinct, due to over-hunting and loss of habitat.
The zoo’s hippos are Una and Cindy. According to Kaitlyn Lutz, a member of the education staff who also greets visitors, hippos were originally found in sub-Saharan Africa but diminished in population. Now they are found mostly in eastern Africa in the Nile Valley. They can stay under water for six minutes. They have a pink oily substance that comes out of their skin that prevents them from getting saturated in the water.
They are strictly vegetarians, can weigh up to 4,500 pounds and are the most dangerous and aggressive animals in Africa. If you look close, but not too close, you can see hairs that cover their whole body.
You can’t forget about the children’s zoo, which has Bunnyland, a place to feed the birds, special shows and a place to buy my favorite food, Tastykakes.
The zoo had lots of volunteers, but the one thing each volunteer kept saying is that a lot of animals are on the endangered list and people need to be careful not to take away their habitat.
P.S. Do not feed animals gum or any types of food at the zoo. It could kill them.
For more information, call the zoo at 215-243-1100.

CONTEST
Attention, kids of all ages. Everyone loves the Philadelphia Zoo. One lucky winner will win four complimentary tickets to the zoo. Write four sentences about your favorite animal at the zoo and what type of food and habitat it needs to survive. E-mail entries to wmkidscolumn@aol.com by Aug. 15.

CRYPTOGRAM

BKL CKWAMRLACKWM PXX WT BKL XARLTB PXX WO MHLDWUM

Hints: P is Z; C is P; A is L; H is M
William Feldman will enter the eighth grade at the Joseph J. Greenberg Elementary School in Bustleton in September. Send all e-mails to wmkidscolumn@aol.com