Xerxes is a ten year old male lion who lives in the African Savanna area at Seattle's zoo Woodland Park
THE ZOO A LIVING LIBRARY In wildness is the preservation of the world Henry David Thoreau INSIDE THE ZOO THE WILD THE RARE AND THE EXOTIC AWAIT Animals and habitats you've only read about come to life Down one path macaws squawk in the hot sticky air of the tropical rain forest Down another path hippos wallow in ponds surrounded by muddy banks Up a steep hill condors perch in their nests and look at the world below them Inside the zoo the distance between continents shrinks African lions roar Asian siamangs hoot North American alligators snap their gigantic jaws laugh Australian kookaburras
helps rescue black footed ferrets from the brink of extinction by breeding them in the zoo and reintroducing them into the wild And Rachel Santymire uses z00 science to give critically endangered wild black rhinos in South Africa a fighting chance These scientists have played important roles in their animals stories stories full of adventure tragedy and joy that unfold much like your favorite novel More than 181 million people visit zoos every year That's more than the number of people who attend Major League Baseball pro hockey pro basketball and pro football games combined But zoos aren't just entertainment centers they are living libraries Zoos allow us to get close enough to animals to hear their stories Stories in which humans often play a part either as hero or villain Zoos also give scientists an up close look at animals that are difficult to observe in the wild These scientists use their training and a hefty dose of ingenuity to study the animals in their care What do these animals eat How do they reproduce Where do they fit in their natural habitats How do we preserve them in the wild The answers to these questions unlock the animals secrets Read on to meet three z00 scientists who are adding to our knowledge of three remarkable species Meredith Bastian once lived among wild orangutans and now shows z00 visitors how to help these hairy apes survive Jeff Baughman
Meredith Bastian left Jeff Baughman top right and Rachel Santymire bottom right each work at a different US z00 Their scientific work helps save species endangered
