Most people go to the zoo to see mysterious animals, but one northern Illinois library is bringing a mini zoo to the park.
Theresa Winterbauer is the youth services manager at the DeKalb Public Library. She says the library worked with an organization to bring these exotic creatures to the Hopkins Park.
“It's Wendy Russeff from Animal Express in Poplar Grove,” she said. “And we researched the different animal places. And she got very high ratings, not only on the information and the animals, but the care they take of the animals.”
There will be four 30-minute shows on Thursday, June 24. The start times are 10 a.m., 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. Two groups of animals will alternate between these times.
“There's going to be a bearded dragon, there's going to be a mountain coati. And so, some of those are pretty unusual but then there's also going to be things like a raccoon and a skunk and a pig.”
Spectators can get up close and personal with these animals after each show. Masks will be required for that portion but are optional during the demonstration. The skunk is descented.
- Yvonne Boose is a current corps member for Report for America, an initiative of the GroundTruth Project. It's a national service program that places talented journalists in local newsrooms like WNIJ. You can learn more about Report for America at wnij.org.