With the 4th of July holiday near it seems appropriate to announce an explosion of new births at Wildlife World Zoo & Aquarium including a Caribbean flamingo chick. It is the first time a resident pair of nesting flamingos has successfully given birth in the zoo’s 26-year history. Visitors can easily see the graceful new addition on display at the Aquarium or while guests enjoy a cool refreshment at the adjacent Flamingo Lounge patio.

Also new to the Aquarium is a one month old litter of small clawed otter pups. At birth, otter pups are completely dependent on their parents; their eyes are closed for the first several weeks. Over the next few weeks once their eyes open, the pups will become more active and will learn how to swim with help from the adults.

Not to be outdone, many of the animals on the zoo grounds have also welcomed newborns over the past few weeks, including two species of primates– patas and spot-nose monkeys. Patas monkeys are an Old World species of primate found in semi arid regions in north central Africa. Patas are generally terrestrial animals built more for speed and running on four limbs rather than tree climbing. As a result, they tend to inhabit open grasslands and even semi desert regions. Males are significantly larger than females, weighing an average of nearly 30 lbs to 15lbs, respectively. Patas have a reddish-brown dorsal coat with a white underbelly. The spot-nose monkey, named for its white colored nose, also has a distinctive “handlebar moustache.” Unlike the patas, spot-nose monkeys spend much of their time living in trees.

There are also larger additions, including several varieties of hoofed animals such as a Beisa Oryx, a Grant’s zebra, and a highly endangered addax. This is the second Grant’s zebra to be born at Wildlife World in 2011. Grant’s zebras are distinguished by wide black and white stripes. The purpose of the zebra’s unique striping–like human fingerprints, no two zebras have the same pattern– is still the subject of some debate. In addition to helping young zebras identify their mothers, the striping probably serves as useful camouflage for those species that live in tall grassland habitats.

The addax is one of the most endangered of all antelope species with less than a few hundred individuals left in the wild. They are uniquely suited to living in the harsh conditions of the Sahara desert. Fortunately, zoos such as Wildlife World have raised many addax and made financial contributions in support of conservation efforts to reintroduce this species to its native habitat.

Wildlife World Zoo & Aquarium is located at 16501 W. Northern Ave., Litchfield Park, AZ. We’re open seven days a week, 365 days a year, including the 4th of July holiday. Zoo exhibits are open from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (last zoo admission is at 5:00 p.m.) Aquarium exhibits are open from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Daytime admission includes access to the zoo and aquarium. Special reduced evening admission to Aquarium-Only is available after 5:00 p.m.

For more info: (623) 935-WILD (9453) or visit www.Wildlifeworld.com.

Lakewood Ranch in Florida is a test city for a new kind of advertising.  They have partnered up with Microsoft to create a barcode city and all you need is a smart phone to participate. Click here for the rest of the story

Awesome video released on NASA’s 3-D imaging of the sun which will provide the data for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to create enchanced space weather forecasts for clients such as satellite operators, airlines, and power companies using 3-D STEREO models of coronal mass ejections (CMEs)—billion-ton clouds of plasma violently ejected by the sun. Just in time for 2012, whew! Take that Mayan Calendar.  Click here for video

February came in first place with September and August a close second and third.

Thank you for participating in this contest.

Street League Skateboarding features the world’s top professional street skateboarders vying for the most prize money in history: First Event on August 28 at Jobing.com Arena in Arizona

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 2 /PRNewswire/ — Rob Dyrdek’s vision for a professional sports league for street skateboarders is close to reality.  Following six years of developing a structured competition format infused with “traditional” sports elements and then pairing it with world-class venues and a revolutionary real-time scoring system suitable for athletes and viewers, the $1.2 million DC Pro Tour fueled by Monster Energy debuts on August 28 at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale, Arizona.  More information is available at www.streetleague.com.

Street League Skateboarding’s™ prestigious three-event series features the exclusive participation of the world’s top 24 street skateboarders ranging from familiar contest stars like Ryan Sheckler, Paul Rodriguez Jr. and Chris Cole to core street skateboarders that have traditionally shied away from competition like PJ Ladd, Mike Mo Capaldi, Brandon Biebel, and Dylan Reider.  The combined roster of athletes is unprecedented in the world of skateboarding and represents the winners of the past four years of the Dew Tour, X Games and Maloof Money Cup.

“To see my dream come to fruition with the launch of Street League Skateboarding on August 28th is beyond words,” said Dyrdek.  “To me, Street League is more than just a new contest series; it will redefine the way skateboarding competitions are done forever.”

Street League is the first contest series to construct concrete skate plazas inside world-class arenas.  These plazas, designed by Dyrdek and California Skateparks (worldwide leader in skatepark design and construction), signify a departure from traditional skate parks since they resemble true street obstacles that would likely be found in any city plaza environment.  Although each of the three tour stops will feature four distinct sections, no course will ever be the same – making the look of Street League another dynamic feature of the series.

Street League also introduces an instant scoring format, bringing a competitive strategy to skateboarding for the first time.  Each skateboarder will get 7 attempts on four sections (technical, creative, line and big); all designed to test a different skill set within street skating.  Each attempt gets an instant score on a scale of 0.0 to 10.0, averaged from five judges.  Each landed trick contributes to a cumulative point total (tricks that are not landed are given a zero).

“There’s going to be a time when Ryan Sheckler knows what level of skating he has to do in order to jump to first, but will have to calculate the risk of not landing his trick which could put him behind everyone,” Dyrdek said.  “The skaters will have to strategize for the first time.”  Beyond the instant ranking changes during every moment of the event, this format brings real time statistics including consistency percentages, average landed trick scores, and on the spot best-trick calculation. 

Street League’s $1.2 million purse is the largest in skateboarding history and almost double the combined winnings for all other skate contests.   Nearly $400,000 will be awarded at each of the three stops beginning with Glendale, Ariz. on Aug. 28 and followed by Ontario, Calif. (Citizens Business Bank Arena) on September 11 and the finale in Las Vegas, Nev. (Thomas & Mack Center) on Sept. 25.  The competitions will air on ESPN2 every Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. PT, Sept. 15 to 29.

As Public Relations Manager at Cancer Treatment Centers of America in Goodyear, Tiffany Jenkins seeks out every opportunity to raise cancer awareness. Recently, opportunity came knocking in a more unusual way. Just a few weeks ago, Jenkins learned of a chance to spread the message about early detection and prevention of cancer to an even wider audience as Mrs. Arizona United States. “Having never competed in pageants before, I didn’t realize there was a platform component that would allow me to share the message about cancer with an even greater audience,” Jenkins says. “Once I found that out, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to compete for the crown, even though it was very last minute. I figured I had nothing to lose and, win or lose, it would be a great personal growth experience.”

So the 30-year old Goodyear resident borrowed an evening gown from a friend and dove in to the pageant head first earlier this month, participating in personal interviews, modeling and public speaking as Mrs. West Valley. She admits she was a little nervous and found herself trembling on stage before the announcement of the winner was made during the pageant’s dazzling finale on Sunday night at the Mesa Center for the Arts.

“The world just kind of stood still when they called my name as Mrs. Arizona,” Jenkins says. “It all happened so quickly. I had never dreamed of competing in a pageant just a few weeks ago and all of a sudden I’m Mrs. Arizona. It’s exciting and overwhelming and I feel truly blessed to have this amazing opportunity to represent the married women of Arizona.”

Jenkins is married to Captain Greg Jenkins, an instructor pilot currently stationed at Luke A.F.B. She is also a 7-year veteran of the Air Force, having served as a Public Affairs Officer and earning the rank of Captain. “I’ve kind of gone from runways to runways,” Jenkins jokes of her newly-acquired status. The whirlwind schedule of activities has just begun for Jenkins who has already made several appearances as Mrs. Arizona, including a visit with the veterans at the Phoenix VA Hospital during Flag Week. She is also busy preparing for the national pageant, Mrs. United States, taking place in Las Vegas on July 22. “I’ve never competed in anything at that level, so I don’t really quite know what to expect,” Jenkins says of the national pageant. “But I’m very much looking forward to the experience and to meeting the other women who are competing as I know they are all amazing individuals.”

To learn more about Mrs. Arizona United States and to follow Tiffany on her adventures, visit www.mrsarizonaunitedstates.com.

For more information contact:

Betsy Rice

602-799-3856

betsy.rice@ctca-hope.com