Zoo Asks Kids To Write Letters To Lonely Animals

Want to go to the zoo? Can't. Not in North Carolina. Not in South Carolina. Not anywhere in America. The animals must be getting lonely.

Dickerson Park Zoo in Springfield, Missouri is asking the kids of all ages to write letters to its animals during the zoo's coronavirus closure. The fan mail is read by zoo staffers to the animals during feeding time and then posted on their Facebook page.

What should you write about? In a recent Facebook post, Dickerson Park Zoo suggests, “Maybe share what you’re learning from home or what you have learned about a particular animal or country.”

A child named Laney wrote the first fan-imal letter and it was to the golden lion tamarins (above): "I love your gold skin. You look like a cute orange fluff ball. I like how you look like a lion and how having twins is common. I have a twin sister. You always brighten my day. Your friend, Laney.”

Five-year-old Xavier wrote to the zoo’s giraffes: “You have tails that can wiggle, heads that are big and necks that are super-long. If I was going to color a picture of a giraffe, it would be red.”

Letters to the animals should be emailed to Dickerson Park Zoo's marketing director, Joey Powell: jpowell@dickersonparkzoo.org.