The 2023 Earth Day celebration will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 22 at the Great Bend Brit Spaugh Zoo. Rosewood E-cycle and Dairy Queen are co-hosts. There will also be booths sponsored by the Kansas Wetlands Center, Heartland Farms, Wheatland Electric, and Amelia’s Tacos. Luna the reading dog will be there, along with animal encounters, and a T-Rex will be roaming zoo grounds, according to Zoo Supervisor and Curator Ashley Burdick.

“We’ll also have giveaways to the first 500 kids, so be sure to come early!!” Burdick said.

Bobcats arrive

The zoo has acquired two bobcats from the Milford Nature Center but they won’t be available for public viewing right away, Burdick said. The bobcats, now 8 and 15 years old, came to the Milford Nature Center near Junction City years ago.

The zoo also has three green and black dart frog tadpoles (Dendrobates auratus).

“Typically they are referred to as poison dart frogs due to their toxicity,” Burdick said. “In the wild they consume insects, which is where this toxin comes from. In captivity they are not poisonous because they feed primarily on fruit flies. A wild poison dart frog contains enough toxin to stop a human heart.”

Projects completed

The new playground equipment at the zoo is now complete and available for use.

The zoo staff also officially completed work on the projects at the cougar exhibit. The sidewalk, fencing and landscaping around the expanded exhibit area were finished last week.