Story and photos by Monty Siekerman
Four members from the Toledo Zoo visited Ada last week. They put on a program about conservation and care of animals as well as telling about strides made at the zoo in recent years.

The nearby zoo is considered one of the foremost zoos for polar bears, and ONU's mascot Klondike was glad to hear that. 

One of the polar bear moms there gave birth to her seventh cub in December. If all goes well, the baby bear will be seen by zoo-goers later this summer.

A Chinese alligator (12 years old but only 3 feet long) was displayed. There are only about 150 of the creatures in the wild, with about 15,000 in zoos. They are aggressive (and have 84 sharp teeth), so they are killed by people in the wild--too dangerous to have in the neighborhood.

Other reptiles on hand were a skink, bull snake, and elongated tortoise.

PHOTOS:

• Bill Kent, in charge of ONU Earth Week, with a prehensile tail skink.

• James Craker, 3, will a bull snake