Wednesday, March 7, 2012

New Zoo Videos and Resources Pages

I just wanted to let you know that I've added two additional new pages to the Zoo Tails site to go along with the "Zoo Books" page I recently created. The first new page is entitled "Videos" and contains some of the zoo videos I have filmed and edited over the past several years. The second page is called "Resources" and contains some useful links to different services and tools I use to help keep this blog and my other websites up and running.

Monday, March 5, 2012

Cheetahs run loose on football field



Tampa, Fla. (March 5, 2012) – On Friday, March 9, SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment (SEA)will broadcast the most recent installment of its Saving a Species series, which features some of Busch Gardens Tampa’s most popular new residents – the cheetahs – and St. Petersburg’s Tropicana Field.

With the stadium closed to outside visitors and the turf marked for the St. Petersburg Bowl football game, the cheetahs were encouraged to run the length of the field, chasing a lure system identical to the one in their Cheetah Run habitat. The cats’ efforts were captured by high-definition and slow-motion cameras. “Even though we have this awesome habitat at Busch Gardens, a 100-yard football field will give us the opportunity to showcase what that speed looks like on a field that people can relate to,” said Tim Smith, a Busch Gardens assistant curator who works with the cheetahs daily.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Virtual Queuing Coming to Zoombezi Bay



Are you looking for something to do this summer in Columbus, Ohio? One of the most popular activities in Columbus on a hot summer day is to cool off at the Zoombezi Bay waterpark, which is owned and operated by the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium right next door (a tickets gets you into both). Zoombezi Bay is a very popular attraction in central Ohio but the good news is those long waits for the waterslides are about to vaporize. The waterpark just signed a five year deal with Lo-Q, a company that designs systems which allow park visitors to make reservations for attractions.
Here’s how it works: Using kiosks located throughout the park, Zoombezi Bay visitors rent RFID-enabled wristbands, call Q-Bands, which reserve a “virtual” place in-line for some of the park’s most popular rides and slides. Just like at a local restaurant, when your reservation time arrives you and your friends enter the attraction via a separate entrance after getting their wrist bands scanned. How cool is that!
Zoombezi Bay is the eleventh water park in the United States to sign-up for the Q-band system since its conception last year.