Zooniversity http://www.zooniversity.org Fun Exotic Animal Education Programs Wed, 02 May 2012 23:43:31 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Meet “Mira,” the Baby Genet http://www.zooniversity.org/2012/05/meet-mira-the-baby-genet/ http://www.zooniversity.org/2012/05/meet-mira-the-baby-genet/#comments Wed, 02 May 2012 23:22:16 +0000 Allison http://www.zooniversity.org/?p=2141 Jeepers, creepers, will you look at those peepers! Meet "Mira," a baby large-spotted genet that has joined our 2012 summer wildlife program, "Zoo’s Clues." Mira was born at another USDA-licensed facility in South Texas and her keepers have asked us to foster Mira for the next couple of months, while they tend to a newborn human baby. The genet is found in Spain, Portugal, France, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and in the savannas of Central and Southern Africa. They are meat-eaters and are one of the world’s most cunning hunters. As a big girl, she will be nearly the size of a housecat and will be able to leap 8-foot straight down from her perch in a tree to catch prey, and then jump 8-foot straight back up to eat her dinner in privacy. They are nocturnal and, although catlike in appearance, they are NOT feline. They are classified as viverrids and are related to the civet and binturong. Join us at one of our free summer library programs to meet one of nature’s most stunning (and cunning) creatures. "Mira" mean beautiful in Middle Eastern languages and "look" in Spanish. We just think she’s beautiful to look at.

]]> http://www.zooniversity.org/2012/05/meet-mira-the-baby-genet/feed/ 0 You Voted Us “Best of the Metroplex” for the Third Year in a Row! http://www.zooniversity.org/2012/03/you-voted-us-best-of-the-metroplex-for-the-third-year-in-a-row/ http://www.zooniversity.org/2012/03/you-voted-us-best-of-the-metroplex-for-the-third-year-in-a-row/#comments Sun, 18 Mar 2012 18:59:38 +0000 Allison http://www.zooniversity.org/?p=2122

We are SO grateful to our many supporters who spent the time to again vote us as "Best of the Metroplex" for 2011 — our third year in a row! The contest is held annually by Metroplex Baby & Kids, and is a heavily juried process. Many of you took the time out of your busy day to send in 50+ write-in nominations for Zooniversity — and each nomination was screened for accuracy and to confirm that nominations came from real Metroplex parents. Then, there was three months of active online voting, covering many parent-oriented categories. Again, each vote was screened to block voting fraud. Tens of thousands of votes were received in each category. In January, it was announced (drum roll please)…you voted Zooniversity as "Best Party Entertainer" in Dallas/Fort Worth for the third year in a row!

We are humbled, we are flattered, and now we have even more reason to work hard to keep your trust.A big hug to all of our friends — we won’t let you down!

]]> http://www.zooniversity.org/2012/03/you-voted-us-best-of-the-metroplex-for-the-third-year-in-a-row/feed/ 0 Teddy Bear the porcupine likes his Pot-O-Gold! http://www.zooniversity.org/2012/03/teddy-bear-the-porcupine-likes-his-pot-o-gold/ http://www.zooniversity.org/2012/03/teddy-bear-the-porcupine-likes-his-pot-o-gold/#comments Sun, 18 Mar 2012 18:08:34 +0000 Allison http://www.zooniversity.org/?p=2107 Teddy Bear, the North American porcupine, is back yet again to fascinate his wildlife-living friends with his talkative antics. Listen carefully to his Teddy’s St. Patrick’s Day video:

"Is it pretty good?" "Not bad…not bad."

"What do you say on St. Patrick’s Day?’ "I’m a Lepri-CORN!"

 See this video on TV!

RIGHT THIS MINUTE, March 15, 2012.

FOX News’ RED EYE, March 15 or 16, 2012 (link pending)

See Teddy’s other fun videos

]]> http://www.zooniversity.org/2012/03/teddy-bear-the-porcupine-likes-his-pot-o-gold/feed/ 1 “Teddy Bear,” the Porcupine, Loves Valentine’s Day Treats http://www.zooniversity.org/2012/02/teddy-bear-the-porcupine-loves-valentines-day-treats/ http://www.zooniversity.org/2012/02/teddy-bear-the-porcupine-loves-valentines-day-treats/#comments Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:13:58 +0000 Allison http://www.zooniversity.org/?p=2088 We can’t miss one holiday without the delightful antics of our resident viral video star, Teddy Bear, the porcupine. See how much "Teddy Bear, the porcupine, LOVES his Valentine’s Day treats," and see what he does when he runs out of them! Listen carefully and you’ll him answer his human with "Yeah, I did," "It’s alright," and "Mine, mine, mine…yum, yum, yum." You never know what he’ll say next! Happy Valentine’s Day, Teddy Bear.

See this video on TV!

RIGHT THIS MINUTE, Jan 27, 2012

]]> http://www.zooniversity.org/2012/02/teddy-bear-the-porcupine-loves-valentines-day-treats/feed/ 0 “Teddy Bear” the Porcupine Predicts Super Bowl 46! http://www.zooniversity.org/2012/02/teddy-bear-the-porcupine-predicts-super-bowl-46/ http://www.zooniversity.org/2012/02/teddy-bear-the-porcupine-predicts-super-bowl-46/#comments Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:31:20 +0000 Allison http://www.zooniversity.org/?p=2071 He’s back again! And, this time "Teddy Bear, the porcupine, predicts the winner of Super Bowl 46."  Watch his latest video as he slams one team to the ground and catches a corn pass from the winning team. Did he pick the winning team? We’ll have to wait and see on February 5, 2012. "GO, TEDDY!"

See this video on TV!

RIGHT THIS MINUTE, Feb 1, 2012

FOX News’ RED EYE, Feb 2, 2012 (at 04:31)

NBC’s THE TODAY SHOW, Feb 2, 2012 (link no longer active…sorry!)

]]> http://www.zooniversity.org/2012/02/teddy-bear-the-porcupine-predicts-super-bowl-46/feed/ 0 “Teddy” had WAY TOO MUCH Corn on New Year’s! http://www.zooniversity.org/2011/12/teddy-had-way-too-much-corn-on-new-years/ http://www.zooniversity.org/2011/12/teddy-had-way-too-much-corn-on-new-years/#comments Fri, 30 Dec 2011 22:41:04 +0000 Allison http://www.zooniversity.org/?p=2053 Our North American porcupine, named "Teddy Bear," shows what happens when you over-imbibe while celebrating the New Year in his newest video "Teddy, the porcupine has WAY TOO MUCH corn on New Year’s." He, and all our staff at Zooniversity, wish you a safe holiday and a prosperous and healthy New Year.

Happy New Year, Teddy Bear!

See this video on TV!

RIGHT THIS MINUTE, Jan 2, 2012

FOX News’ RED EYE, Jan 5, 2012 (at approx. 40:50)

]]> http://www.zooniversity.org/2011/12/teddy-had-way-too-much-corn-on-new-years/feed/ 2 “Teddy Bear” Wishes You a Merry Christmas! http://www.zooniversity.org/2011/12/teddy-bear-wishes-you-a-merry-christmas/ http://www.zooniversity.org/2011/12/teddy-bear-wishes-you-a-merry-christmas/#comments Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:26:06 +0000 Allison http://www.zooniversity.org/?p=2039 He’s back! "Teddy Bear," the porcupine is back to wish all his friends and fans a Merry Christmas. And, let us answer those questions right up front: "How did you get that hat on him?" Not a problem, he actually LIKED it! Teddy wore his Santa hat for about an hour before it fell off. "Isn’t a gingerbread cookie bad for a porcupine?" It wasn’t a cookie. It was a low-sugar dog biscuit — we keep our big guy on a healthy diet. More questions? Just ask!

As Teddy is quick to tell you — Merry Christmas! (And, never share your holiday cookies.)

See this video on TV!

RIGHT THIS MINUTE, Dec 14, 2012

]]> http://www.zooniversity.org/2011/12/teddy-bear-wishes-you-a-merry-christmas/feed/ 4 “Teddy” the Porcupine is a Viral Video and TV Star http://www.zooniversity.org/2011/12/teddy-the-porcupine-is-a-viral-video-and-tv-star/ http://www.zooniversity.org/2011/12/teddy-the-porcupine-is-a-viral-video-and-tv-star/#comments Thu, 08 Dec 2011 03:35:01 +0000 Allison http://www.zooniversity.org/?p=2005 Dallas, Texas, USA, December 7, 2011 — Welcome to the unpredictable, rather insane, world of the Internet. Where else would a one-minute, handheld video clip of a porcupine eating his favorite snack, end up being watched by a million people across the globe and be aired on all three major US televison networks in just one week? "Teddy Bear," an 8-year old North American porcupine owned by Dallas-based Zooniversity, is now a viral video and TV star. Teddy’s first video was just named #1 "Best Animal Video of 2011" by The International Business Times.

The video, entitled "Teddy Bear, the porcupine, doesn’t like to share," went viral in late November 2011, when YouTube viewers shared the clip on dozens of other video sites. Within days the video topped half-a-million views. Why? Well, the corn-hungry porcupine is rather vocal about not wanting to share his corn and English-speaking viewers insist they heard him protesting in human words, saying "It’s my corn," "Stop that," and "Get Back" — or even some stronger explitives. Then, the video went global. German viewers say he is speaking German, Dutch viewers insist it’s Dutch, and now Russian viewers hear Russian words in his grunts and groans. Even more surprising, some folks feel that his human-like sounds are more than coincidental. The International Business Times (UK) writes "the video has gained soaring popularity among viewers with most agreeing that it is an example of animals borrowing the human language to communicate with us, and have labelled it as "clear intelligence"." Huh?

National TV shows quickly jumped to air the popular video. "Teddy Bear" has already been featured on THE TODAY SHOW (link pending), GOOD MORNING AMERICA, INSIDE EDITION, RIGHT THIS MINUTE and RED EYE (at 19:50). Numerous regional TV and radio stations across the U.S. have also broadcast the video, but it has surprisingly not yet hit the radar of local Dallas/Fort Worth media.

And, the Internet is continuing the buzz. Videos are popping up of people recording the reaction of their pet while watching Teddy’s video. And, some websites are featuring the video to illustrate their mission – several Christian sites are sharing it as "an example of God’s amazing creation," and a healthy eating site says that Teddy’s corn gluttony "is nothing more than a porcupine version of our human snacks laden with high-fructose corn syrup."

Zooniversity’s owner, Allison Blankenship, hand-raised Teddy since he was an ophaned baby and says "Teddy’s always been vocal…and a bit spoiled. But, the viral video came as a huge surprise. I never heard the human-like words when I posted it ." Teddy is a popular education animal at the Dallas-based wildlife education company. As one of their animal ambassadors, Teddy travels to schools, libraries and events throughout Texas and is known for his ewok-like chatter while he nibbles on a wedge of sweet potato during  his part of the wildlife show. "He’ll usually mumble and moan into my microphone, while I teach audiences about his natural behaviors, " says Blankenship, "He always steals the show." Well, it looks like he stole it again!

Watch Teddy’s NEW video: "Teddy, the talking porcupine, likes pumpkin, too!"

Teddy now has a Facebook fan page www.facebook.com/TeddyPorcupine and he’s on Twitter www.twitter.com/TeddyPorcupine

]]> http://www.zooniversity.org/2011/12/teddy-the-porcupine-is-a-viral-video-and-tv-star/feed/ 2 “Teddy Bear” the Porcupine Video Goes Viral! http://www.zooniversity.org/2011/11/teddy-bear-goes-viral/ http://www.zooniversity.org/2011/11/teddy-bear-goes-viral/#comments Wed, 30 Nov 2011 21:16:04 +0000 Allison http://www.zooniversity.org/?p=1980 Our simple little video called "Teddy Bear, the Porcupine Doesn’t Like to Share" has gone viral! Last week we had about 2,000 views of the video, featuring "Teddy Bear," our very talkative, and rather grumpy, 8-year old North American porcupine not wanting to share his ear of corn with me. The latest count is 435,000 views and skyrocketing by the hour — watch the video and check out the latest number of views.Three major networks have already contacted us about airing it on their regular programming. Who knew? Teddy, we better get you an agent and bleach those teeth — you’re aiming for stardom!

UPDATE 12/04/11: Teddy’s video aired on ABC’s GOOD MORNING AMERICA.

UPDATE 12/03/11: Hit 750,000 views.

UPDATE 11/29/11: Teddy’s video aired on NBC’s TODAY show, CBS’s INSIDE EDITION, FOX’s RED EYE, and E’s THE SOUP — hit 500,000 views.

UPDATE 11/28/11: Huffington Post Cute/Ridiculous Animal Thing of the Day

]]> http://www.zooniversity.org/2011/11/teddy-bear-goes-viral/feed/ 7 Librarians: It’s Time to Book for Summer 2012! http://www.zooniversity.org/2011/11/librarians-its-time-to-book-for-summer-2012/ http://www.zooniversity.org/2011/11/librarians-its-time-to-book-for-summer-2012/#comments Fri, 18 Nov 2011 21:16:05 +0000 Allison http://www.zooniversity.org/?p=1974 Librarians across Texas  – it’s time to book performers for Summer Reading 2012! It’s best to book your summer programming before the holidays or your favorite vendors may already be booked-up. No deposit is required. Nothing to risk to hold your reservation. Call 972-979-9847 or write now to book your favorite dates and times, before they’re all gone!

"Zoo’s Clues"

"Zoo's Clues," Teddy the porcupineThe Texas State Library Commision has selected "Get A Clue" as next summer’s school-age theme. We’ll be offering a new course to match the theme: "Zoo’s Clues." As always, we’ll be featuring rescued animals your readers haven’t met in  recent years, so you’re guaranteed a fresh new show. Or, if you prefer, you can ask us to teach one of our other 20 memorable programs.

Pricing & Travel Fees

Both our large group stage shows and our small group classroom programs still start at $250. Travel fees are charged for any location beyond 50 miles roundtrip from our North Dallas location. You can cut your travel charges in half or more if you plan ahead — help us to book a neighboring library (or two) on the same day and we’ll split the travel charges, making it affordable for even the most budget-challenged libraries.

Preschool, ‘Tween & Teen, and Adult & Senior Programming, Too!

You may not know that some of our most popular programming is designed for other age groups. We can adjust our curriculum and animal selections to appeal to preschoolers (3 years and older only), ‘tweens & teens (no "baby" programming here), and your adult and senior audiences. We’re happy to refer you to librarians where these shows have been a HUGE success — they’ve been some of our favorites, too! Animals are fascinating for all ages — keep us in mind for year-round programming and for all age groups.

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