BOISE, Idaho — When people think about wildlife at the zoo, they might think of monkeys, alligators, and giraffes.
While the zoo knows how many hyenas and penguins are living there, there are plenty of other animals, plants, and fungi found within the zoo’s eleven acres that are not part of the documented collection.
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Zoo Boise's Jeff Agosta told Idaho News 6 that the event is designed to catalog those under-the-radar residents on zoo grounds.
“Obviously we have monkeys, crocodiles, and tigers, and lions, and giraffes living here at Zoo Boise. There are also lots of things that aren't part of our collection that live in the wild. There's geese, we see owls, we see snakes, we see bald eagles, we see insects, we see mushrooms. We see all sorts of things that live here. And as the conservation organization that we are, part of our mission … it’s really the main focus of our mission, is to help our wild counterparts. We need to know what’s living here on zoo grounds and make sure that we’re taking care of them as well.”
To get a better understanding of all the animals, plants, and fungi that live in the zoo - but might not be under human care - the educational services at the zoo are holding an event called a Bio Blitz. The Blitz allows members of the public to join the zoo staff in counting their residents.
The free event is at 5:30 on Sunday, September 24, and citizen scientists can patrol the zoo grounds starting at 5:30. You have to be registered in advance, and information can be found on the zoo’s social media pages, or on the zoo’s events calendar.
Click here to register to attend Bio Blitz.
