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NC ZOO CELEBRATES 'YEAR OF FROG' WITH 'LEAP DAY' ACTIVITIES
BY: Tom GillespieFeb. 22, 2008
ASHEBORO, N.C.—In an effort to increase the public’s awareness of the plight of frogs and other amphibians throughout the world, the North Carolina Zoo will celebrate "Leap Day" at the park on Friday, Feb. 29 (Leap Day), March 1 and March 2.
The event is part of the larger Year of the Frog initiatives planned at other locations throughout the United States and Canada.
The weekend activities will include frog crafts for kids, a scavenger hunt through the zoo for frogs in the zoo’s collection, a listening station for visitors to hear many of the calls of North Carolina’s frogs and another station to determine how far visitors can jump. All activities will run from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. each day at Junction Plaza. Visitors can pick up scavenger hunt question lists at the North America entrance; the hunt will go on throughout the zoo.
Additionally, the N.C. Zoo Society has begun a year-long "Adopt-a-Frog" program, similar to their other animal adoption programs; see details on their Web site at www.nczoo.com.
For several decades, there has been an alarming decline in amphibian populations on every continent. A summary of recent field studies confirms that 2,469 of the known 5,787 amphibian species (43 percent) are in trouble. Thirty-two percent of those (1,856 species) are considered threatened, and 168 species have recently disappeared and are now assumed to be extinct.
During the event, guests can also visit the park’s two exhibits in the R.J. Reynolds Forest Aviary featuring small, colorful frogs native to tropical Central and South America.
The first exhibit features poison dart frogs--three of about 247 known species of poison dart frogs, with new species being discovered regularly. The frogs on display in the Aviary range in size from just less than an inch to about an inch and a half in length.
The second of the two new exhibits features Panama golden frogs, which range in color from a brilliant gold to a pale, greenish yellow. Now believed to be extinct in the wild, they were found in Panama and were culturally significant to the people of Panama, who considered them symbols of good luck.
The two frog exhibits in the Aviary run through normal zoo winter hours: 9 a.m.- 4 p.m.
The zoo is an agency of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, William G. Ross Jr., Secretary; Michael F. Easley, Governor.