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Akron Zoo Animals Available to Join Online Work Meetings, Birthday Celebrations

ELENA BELL
/
AKRON ZOO

The Akron Zoo is offering a number of virtual options to keep its animals connected with their fans. The options range from having a parrot or macaw join your Zoom meeting to having one of their turtles or possums paint a picture for you.

Spokesperson Elena Bell said these programs also give the zoo another way to bring in revenue while it remains closed to visitors during the pandemic.

“We’ve had to cancel a lot of our events due to the pandemic, and an option we are looking into is to see if there are any events that we can create that could be a virtual event that we enjoy with everyone,” she said.

The virtual visits cost $45 each and last up to 20 minutes. Bell said the program is popular already and will likely continue until the zoo is able to re-open fully to the public.

Copyright 2021 WKSU. To see more, visit WKSU.

Aaron McDade is a senior journalism major at Kent State University, set to graduate in the spring. He has worked as an assigning editor and a reporter for the Kent Stater, the university’s student-run newspaper and plans to pursue a career in sports journalism after graduation. His interests include sports and politics.