Teens Teach Kids to Care - Zoo Animal Presenters

Thanks to everyone for your support of ZAP! We've had a busy start to 2010 and look forward to another great year of learning and teaching. We interviewed 90 ZAP Team candidates this winter and welcomed 10 new, first-year interns to the ZAP program in February. They've all completed their live animal handling training this spring.and have already presented some outreach programs! Many thanks to our experienced 2nd and 3rd year ZAP Team members for their help with the interview process and for their help with 1st year training.

We have already scheduled more than 90 presentations for summer recreation programs throughout the greater Portland area. Thanks to our funding partners that include the Oregon Zoo Foundation and all of our friends at Global Giving, we hope to provide these free outreach programs to 8-10,000 kids once again this sumer.

Our 10 returning 2nd year ZAP Team members have completed leading this spring's environmental education programs at Peninsula and Buckman Elementary Schools. These ZAP mentors are completing their Urban Nature Overnight (UNO) leadership training and they will soon be helping 350 kids to have a fun, safe, leave no trace camping experience this summer..

We have 9, 3rd year ZAP teens leading UNO programs and assisting with a variety of Zoo conservation projects. Two ZAPs will be working in the Oregon Zoo Butterfly Lab helping to feed and care for thousands of endangered Oregon silverspot butterfly caterpillars before they are ready for release along the Oregon Coast (see our Butterfly Project on GlobalGiving for more information). Seven ZAP teens will be working on filed conservation projects here in the greater Portland area in cooperation with the Zoo's parent organization Metro. They'll be collecting seeds from native plants, helping to remove non-native invasive plants (such as English ivy and Himalayan blackberries), participating in staff-led animal and plant surveys and receiving additional training at local natural areas.

We look forward to reporting back to you on all of these summer activities and thank you again for your generous support of our ZAP and UNO programs!