AR-News: (U.S. - Pa.) zoo reveals animals' names

[Mary Finelli]

ZOO REVERSES POLICY ON ANIMAL NAMES
Associated Press, March 20, 2004
http://www.wcnc.com/news/strangenews/stories/032004cccawcnchyhzoonames.a3b3d4aa.html


Pittsburgh — A lizard will no longer be just a lizard nor a sea lion simply 
a sea lion at the Pittsburgh Zoo - they'll be "Henry" and "Maggie."

The Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium has reversed a decade-old policy that kept the 
animals anonymous, their nicknames known only to animal handlers and other 
zoo employees.

The philosophy behind the policy, implemented when zoo President Barbara 
Baker arrived in 1990, reflected then-current thinking among some in the 
zoological community that animals shouldn't be anthropomorphized - that is, 
given human characteristics.

Now, Baker has revised that policy and will reintroduce the animals with 
names during a "Meet the Animals" next month. Signs with animals' 
photographs, bios and names will be posted around the zoo.

"The latest research on children and how they learn and how they make 
emotional connections is very important to us," Baker said. "The animal 
names are a very important way to get children to care about wildlife and to 
care about animals."

Besides the research, 95 percent of people who offered opinions on the zoo's 
Web site favored revealing the animal's names, zoo officials said.

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