Prairie dog Daisey saw her shadow Wednesday, yes, a week ahead of Groundhog Day — which means her keeper, the Denver Zoo, is offering buy-one, get-one-free admission Sunday.
The deal is part of the zoo’s Prairie Dog Day celebration from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Prairie dogs are cousins to groundhogs.
Sunday’s activities will include demonstrations of the role that prairie dogs play in the ecosystem, a puppet show called “A Prairie Saga” by the Boulder County Audubon Society and an “education station” about how the Denver Zoo is helping preserve grasslands.
At 1 p.m., the zoo’s director of conservation biology, Rich Reading, will give a lecture about the “often-controversial species,” according to the zoo. Seating is limited, so those attending should reserve a spot at the zoo’s website.
A vital source of food for nine animals, including hawks, foxes and owls, prairie dogs are a vanishing species, having lost 95 percent of their native habitat, according to the zoo.
The zoo has put on Prairie Dog Day for a decade to raise awareness of the animal’s plight.
The Denver Post
This story has been corrected in this online archive. Originally, the terms of the discounted admission were incorrect.
