Each March, garden enthusiasts head to the zoo for one thing – Zoo Doo. This year the Woodland Park Zoo has canceled the Fecal Fest after finding unacceptable levels of the herbicide clopyralid (klo-PEER-uh-lid) in its supply of popular poo. The herbicide is not a risk to animals but could be a risk to your garden plants. “Through our regular testing procedures, we traced the persistent herbicide to specialized animal feeds for our non-primate herbivores (plant eaters),” explained EJ Hook, Woodland Park Zoo’s maintenance operations manager. “In response, we’ve made changes with our feed supplier and switched to organically certified feeds. We expect to see the changes in future test results.” After making the changes, the Zoo expects this year’s fall Zoo Doo to be just fine. One million pounds of Zoo Doo is produced each year, saving the zoo $60,000 a year in disposal costs and generating income for the zoo. Call 206.625.POOP.
(Photo courtesy Ric Brewer and The Woodland Park Zoo)
