Photos and story by Monty Siekerman
The Columbus Zoo, or at least part of it, came to Ada Tuesday for a joint meeting of the Ada Rotary and Kiwanis service clubs at The Inn.

Fifty club members, their spouses, and children saw four cute, cuddle critters up close and personal.

Here, a one-year-old joey is petted, feeling surprisingly soft considering kangaroos have have one of the toughest hides. He's in a pouch (albeit a manmade one) because baby kangaroos feel more comfortable in a pouch since that's where they begin life.

Tommy Dodge, of the zoo, walked past the tables where the diners were seated, giving everyone a closeup view of the animals. Meanwhile, Tiffany Dollins described the animals, their habitats, and why they were becoming endangered - loss of habitat and poaching, mostly.

The zookeepers travel throughout the Midwest showing audiences a variety of animals, and fly to NYC or LA to be on national TV shows, such as Good Morning America.

Jack Hanna, director emeritus of the zoo, presented a program, with animals large and small, at the Freed Center earlier this year.

For the holidays, The Columbus Zoo hosts Wildlights from now until Jan. 1. The zoo is aglow with more than 3 million lights from 5-9 p.m., except Friday and Saturday nights when it stays open an hour later. There is no extra charge other than regular admission and parking.

There are many other events, such as animated light shows, during the holiday season. The zoo opens at 10 a.m. daily. For details, go to Columbuszoo.org.

PHOTOS -
• Awe, cute kitty...not quite. This is a young African serval, which might grow to 40 pounds and leap 7 feet to catch prey.
• Penguin...did you know most species of penguins like warm weather?