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For Lion Day, we met the lion keepers, who took us up to the lions' night quarters and taught us all about these magnificent cats. We also observed the lion release in the morning. The highlight was on Thursday, when all of the campers watched the lions tear up the paper-mache enrichments we made for them. We also made a lion craft to take home and played a lion game.
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We got out of the van in Las Pampas section of the preserve, where an education staff member told us about the pelicans. Then, a wildlife staff member showed us how to feed fish to the pelicans. The rheas and Kolie the llama also came over to investigate us, too. We also candled eggs and held the baby chicks at the petting zoo. At craft time, we made a special pelican craft.
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In the morning, we met an education staff member who told us all about alligators, and then we were able to hold the baby alligator, Chompers. We met up with the education staff again at the 3:00 Alligator Chit-Chat and fed fish to the big gators. We made our own alligators to take home during craft time.
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We met the keeper at the Petting Zoo, who taught us what is involved in this zoo profession. We then got rakes, shovels, and brooms and helped to clean the night quarters of the goats and sheep. Some of us had our photo taken with one of the petting zoo animals. At craft time, we made a craft to remind us of petting zoo day.
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Will from landscaping, who is a master gardener and has lived all over the world, took us on a hike to point out the variety of plants and how they are used in many different cultures. We also grew seeds, drew plants, and learned about the many instruments made from plants. We made a horticulture craft to take home, too.