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British Airways Forecasts a Panda Epidemic for Chengdu Flights

Are these the best promotional pictures for a new flight route you’ve ever seen? That’s a rhetorical question, by the way. Of course they are.

As you might know, British Airways is launching flights from Heathrow to Chengdu in China in September – the first direct route between the two cities. Chengdu is a huge business hub, which is presumably the reason behind the route launch, but it also happens to be home to the giant pandas – the most famous breeding center (which you can visit) is on the outskirts of the city, while there are a few other centers/sanctuaries scattered around Sichuan province, within a few hours of Chengdu.

Hence the pandas—or panbassadors, maybe?—checking in and checking out the Club World cabin.

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Zoos / Zoo Travel / Nature Travel / San Diego Travel / San Diego / San Diego Zoo / → All Tags

Everything You Need to Know About the San Diego Zoo's New Koala Exhibit

There are subtle ways and not-so-subtle ways to attract travelers. Some places - say, Mexico - struggle with image problems, and before they can pitch anything fun they have to rebrand themselves.. Other countries and organizations have it a lot easier. Zoos, for example, can do the equivalent of waving their arms in the air and shouting: "Hey, look over here! There are cute baby things over here!"

Our beloved San Diego Zoo knows what works, which is why they kicked off the summer travel season this morning by opening up their new Conrad Prebys Australian Outback exhibit to the public. The 3 acre exhibit is meant to model what you might see in Queensland. At the entrance is a cluster of 8 to 15-foot-tall totems depicting a koala, a platypus, a crocodile, a kangaroo, a Tasmanian devil, and a kookaburra. They call it the exhibit's "welcoming committee."

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Toast To The Turtles With 3 Memorial Day 'Brew At The Zoo' Events

If you’ve ever wanted to get drunk with a skunk this weekend is the time to do it. Memorial Day weekend seems to be a hit with zoos across the country, as they’re rolling out the beer as well as the animals. Here are a few spots to cool off with a sudsy drink while checking out some critters:

Brew at the Zoo - Atlanta

In addition to the bears and the beers there will also be live music, free rides on the train and on the carousel, and games like Pongo Ping Pong. (We have no idea what that last one is, but after a few samples we’ll be up for a game.) The zoo's got more than 1,500 animals on hand to entertain you while you're busy sipping and sampling your way through each and every exhibit. Advance tickets will set you back $43, and that’ll get you access to unlimited opportunities to enjoy both wine and beer (5:30-9:30pm, Saturday, May 25.).

Zoo Brew – Memphis

Cut out of work a little bit early on Friday, as the brew at the zoo fun in Memphis does its thing between 7pm and 10pm on May 24. That means you can get in some quality time with the animals—and alcohol—and still have the weekend to attend family picnics and other less than fun activities. Here the tickets will go for $40, but there are always VIP options ($60) as well. Live music and plenty of food round out the options, so be sure to raise a glass to the aardvarks, zebras, and everything in between.

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'Brew At The Zoo' Beer Festivals for May Take on Miami, California and Memphis

The weather is getting warmer, and May has officially arrived on the calendar. That means it’s time to head outdoors and reconnect with nature—or at least just visit the critters over at the neighborhood zoo. Sure we love to see the animals do their thing, but it’s even better with a beverage in one hand. Here’s three brew at the zoo events taking place this May.

Brew at the Zoo – Zoo Miami

It’s already time for Zoo Miami to do their brew at the zoo thing, as the animals and exhibits are waiting for you to swing by on Saturday, May 4 between 7 and 11pm. Despite its location at the zoo, it sounds like this event is one of the biggest beer festivals in the city. Plenty of brewers and breweries will be in attendance, and they’re promising more than 100 different lagers and ales to sip and sample. Unlimited samples are yours to enjoy for just $35—in advance—or $40 at the door. The fun rounds itself out with plenty of live music including an appearance by Naughty by Nature—remember them?

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Panda Travel / Edinburgh Travel / Animals / Scotland Travel / Zoos / Zoo Travel / Nature Travel / → All Tags

Why All Eyes are on Edinburgh Zoo's Frisky Panda Pals

Yang Guang limbers up

Maybe Edinburgh is that kinda town, because it wasn’t just Richard Branson getting frisky in Scotland last week; bumping Little Red’s arrival down the news agenda were the two pandas at Edinburgh Zoo, Tian Tian and Yang Guang, whose slow and steady journey to mating season has been vicariously lapped up by the British press.

Not because they’re creeps, see; but because a panda pregnancy will be a feat against all the odds—the female is in season for just 48 hours. Also, the couple have only known each other for just over a year, so although it’s not quite celebrity speed, it’s pretty quick. Last year, they tried to breed unsuccessfully. This year, we were told when we visited last week, Tian Tian has been calling to Yang Guang with “much more urgency,” making the scientists think they might just hit the jackpot.

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The National Zoo's Live-Tweeting Just Gets Cuter and Cuter

Elementary logic: all organizations are increasingly leveraging social media, zoos are organizations, therefore zoos are increasingly leveraging social media. What differentiates zoos from other groups, of course, is that their tweets, posts, photos, and videos are much, much cuter.

Our beloved San Diego Zoo probably sets the standard for social media completionism—their annual Panda Week activities are to the point—but the National Zoo in Washington, DC is not far behind. Last year they live-tweeted the artificial insemination of a giant panda and the subsequent birth of the panda baby. Both of those were neat but not particularly cute.

The zoo's most recent live-tweeted event did much better on the cuteness front: photos and descriptions of elephant baths.

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Run Around Zoo Miami to Help a New Children's School in Haiti

There are lots of ways to spend a Saturday in Miami, not all of them good for you. On the wholesome end of the scale, there are things like a trip to the zoo or working up a sweat with a nice, long walk or run. Even better: here's a way to knock both of those tasks off your to-do list and earn major feel-good vibes to boot.

This Saturday, the Miami chapter of charitable organization Hand in Hand for Haiti holds its annual 5K Walk/Run at Zoo Miami. If you live in the area or are in town for a visit, it's the best way to start off your weekend. (No one gets out of bed before noon on South Beach anyway.)

It all begins at 8 am and, if you register in advance, you score admission to Zoo Miami immediately after the Walk/Run. The fee is $25, but if you wait until the day of the event it jumps to $30.

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One More Reason to Visit DC's National Zoo: A New Baby Panda!

BAM! Last night at 10:46pm the National Zoo in Washington, DC welcomed a new baby panda into the world. We noticed that something was amiss outside Jaunted's zoo-adjacent DC headquarters this morning—news vans were gathering to take pictures and video, because Anchorman is far closer to reality than anyone in broadcast journalism wants to admit—and so we investigated.

The result of the investigation was the picture at the top of this post, with the reporters doing interviews with cherubic crotch-dumplings and their mothers, and the news about the baby panda. YouTube video of the birth is embedded below and the relevant Twitter hashtag for updates is #cubwatch. Zoo travel social media completionism, is what that is.

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Four Zoos for Visiting Baby Leopards This Fall

Yeah listen. We could pretend that we do these fairly routine zoo travel baby animal posts - lemurs and monkeys and otters oh my! - because you guys are going to visit those locations. But that would be dishonest of us and unworthy of you.

So let's all enter the circle of trust. Behind each of the links in this post are a ton of baby leopards pictures, and at the bottom are a few videos. Happy Friday.

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Three More 'Brew at the Zoo' Events to End the Summer Sippin' Season

If you wanted to get drunk with a skunk this summer there’s still time to do it. Animal parks across the country have started to add booze to their usual offerings, and now it’s time to take it all in. There’s at least a few warm weekends left this summer so now’s the time to cool off with a refreshing adult beverage while watching the lions, tigers, and bears do their thing. Here’s our picks for three “zoo brew” events that might just be worth your time:

Franklin Park Zoo – Boston, Massachusetts

It’s almost time for the third annual Brew at the Zoo event at Franklin Park Zoo, so now’s the time to start planning a little trip to Boston. The critter cocktail party is set to do its thing on August 18—that’s this weekend—between 5 and 9pm. Of course you’ll be able to check out what the lemurs are up to and gawk at the giant anteater, but this zoo also has some prehistoric friends as well. Festival attendees are welcome to stroll around Zoorassic Park which features around 15 animatronic dinosaurs, so be sure not to spill your drink—they’re probably expensive to replace.

Tickets are $50 per person, and that includes all the samples that you can comfortably—or uncomfortably—handle. There’s live music and plenty of food to purchase, so they’ve got your entertainment covered from all angles. Peak Organic Brewing Company, Blue Hills Brewery, and Long Trail Brewing Co., are just a few of the breweries scheduled to be in attendance. Of course there will be an appearance from none other than Samuel Adams as well—the brewery, not the historical figure.

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Where to Have Olympic-Themed Fun at Zoos This Weekend

You've taken our advice and nutritionally prepared yourself for the London 2012 Olympics. You've done your background reading on the special-edition Olympics airplanes from various airlines. You're caught up on the "please don't flee the country" ad campaign that British Airways has been running.

You even know that there's free wifi in Underground stations for the duration of the Games. You are, in other words, all caught up on Olympics-related travel news. Nothing left.

How about some pictures and videos of the various "Animal Olympics" being held at zoos around the world this weekend and through the rest of summer? Happy Friday.

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Zoos / Zoo Travel / Summer Travel / New York / New York Travel / Green Travel / → All Tags

Five Zoos for Visiting Baby Lemurs This Summer

Lemurs, as is well-known, are awesome. In their natural habitat of Madagascar they naturally form ecological kingdoms that feature all-night dance raves. This is a fact. You can look it up. In captivity they spend most of their time sunbathing and having cute lemur babies. Ergo this post, with as usual lots of grateful hat-tips to ZooBorns.

There are many different kinds of lemurs - not just the well-known ring-tailed variety - and it turns out that many of them are having babies across zoos and Centers in America. We've also embedded a couple of videos at the bottom for you. Happy Friday folks.

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