Tagged: North Carolina Zoo

Keepers  at the North Carolina Zoo used a snow-making machine to fill a cougar's habitat with snow on Tuesday. With temperatures not expected to get out of the 30's, zoo visitors can expect to see the exhibit snow for several days.

The non-profit LandTrust of Central North Carolina is teaming up with the North Carolina Zoo to preserve a unique tract of Longleaf Pine Forest. The 113-acre tract in Montgomery County is a rarity for this type of growth in the Piedmont. The land has been preserved by private owners for more than a century. Crystal Cockman is a conversation specialist with LandTrust.

The North Carolina Zoo is leading an emergency fundraising effort for the Tripoli Zoo in war-torn Libya. Political chaos there has left zoo keepers without money to buy food for the animals, and they have only a week's supply on hand. North Carolina Zoo Director David Jones has led similar international fundraising efforts for zoos in Afghanistan and Iraq. He says he's happy to help Libya's main zoo as well.

North Carolina Zoo leaders are looking at new ways to generate revenue. In recent years the state budget has had less and less money for the zoo. Public money accounts for about 60 percent of their budget. The remainder comes from park sales and private donations. The zoo is currently one of two state-owned zoos in the United States. Traditionally a trip to the zoo in Asheboro has been a day trip for families. Officials want to change that by adding additional attractions such as a water park, an Asian continent exhibit or a hotel. Zoo Director David Jones says the zoo needs to evolve to survive.

  A gorilla at the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro is expecting. That's big news for the zoo which has only had one other gorilla birth in its history. Spokesman Rod Hackney has been at the zoo for 24 years and still remembers the last birth. It was 22 years ago in 1989.