Simone WilsonNever has jumping on the green train looked so goddamn fun.
Meet the Conservation Carousel at the L.A. Zoo: It's not the first of it's kind (and the Bronx Zoo beat us to an insect carousel! Jealous!), but it's the first to feature a serval, a maned wolf and a peninsular pronghorn. Also, in place of soul-crushing chimes, it will play music recorded in L.A. in the 1960s and '70s. Songs will include “Tijuana Taxi” by Herb Alpert and The Tijuana Brass.
In other words, once it opens to the public next week…
… it will be the finest endangered-species carousel in the land. Decidedly!
(What is it about L.A. Zoo press releases that so charm us into writing up glowing promo pieces?! Crappy PR people, take note. Hint No. 1: Throwing in some adorable animals in trouble never hurts.)
To make things even cuter, each animal can be “adopted” for $25,000. And they're all different! The money goes to rescue efforts, which will make you feel good. Plus, each donor gets a special plaque at the base of the carousel for three years. Come on — the little children will be so proud. As will the creepy animal nerds who come to have phallic fantasies with endangered species, but we need not get into that here.
Below are photos of the ones still up for adoption, courtesy of the L.A. Zoo. Media-relations lady Susan Clines is sending us a full list of the smug critters who were already picked up; we'll update with those as well.
But we do know they include a beautiful unicorn! (More extinct than endangered, really, unless you count the My Little Pony aisle. Or, as A&M Records donor Ann Moss sees it, imagination is endangered too.)
Welcome to Treetops Terrace, all:
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