When news came out that the United States had the highest number of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the world, many Americans took action to self-isolate themselves from the general public. Because of this, many establishments had to either arrange a work-from-home scheme or temporarily suspend their business operations. Among the latter are attractions like theme parks, live theater productions, and even zoos.
Despite this recent “quarantine lockdown”, a zoo in Springfield, Missouri, found a way for people to “communicate” with the animals without having to leave the comforts of their homes.
In a Facebook post shared by the Dickerson Park Zoo, they are encouraging people of all ages to write letters to the creatures under their care. The zoo staff will then share a video of themselves reading the letters to the animals.
The zoo’s spokesperson Joey Powell told KSMU.org that the purpose of this venture is to “to provide something fun, educational and interactive while we are going through this difficult time.”And there is no specific format for the letter submissions–which means it can contain questions about the animals, fun stories about their last visit to the zoo, or activities they’ve done for the day.
So far, a number of individuals have already sent in their letters via email and videos of it being read have been posted on the zoo’s social media page.
Here’s one letter from a girl named Julieta to the otters in the zoo:
Dear Julieta, meet Congo & Champ
Posted by Dickerson Park Zoo on Sunday, March 29, 2020
Interested participants may send in their letters to the Dickerson Park Zoo via email at [email protected]. And they may watch more videos of the staff reading these letters to the animals at facebook.com/DPZoo.
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