Environment

Zoo to host National Pollinator week June 17-23

Monday, June 10th, 2013, 5:31pm

Zoo to host National Pollinator week June 17-23

ST. LOUIS, MO. (KTVI) - One out of every three bites of food we eat depends on pollinators. Honeybees, bumblebees and other insects, birds and small mammals pollinate over 90 percent of the planet's flowering plants and one third of human food crops.

June 17-23, 2013, has been declared “National Pollinator Week” to recognize the importance of pollinators for the health of ecosystems as well as our own survival.

During this week, the Saint Louis Zoo’s Monsanto Insectarium will host keeper chats and demonstrations on attracting bees to gardens, identifying different types of bees, beekeeping and more. The Painted Giraffe restaurant will offer daily specials featuring food provided by pollinators.

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Kids Help Zoo & Wash U Study Box Turtles

Submitted by KTVI-KPLR

Tuesday, June 12th, 2012, 2:58pm

Kids Help Zoo & Wash U Study Box Turtles

Thirteen St. Louis youth will be in Forest Park on June 13 tracking box turtles, fitted with telemetry devices--all to help with a project aimed at studying box turtle movements and their health.

The 11-, 12- and 13-year-olds are participating in a pilot study designed by scientists from the Saint Louis Zoo and Washington University in St. Louis to document box turtle movements and their health status in urban and rural areas in and around St. Louis. This study comes at a critical time as previous studies conducted across the globe show that many populations of turtles are being threatened by vehicles, habitat loss, and disease. However, the conservation status of box turtles in Missouri is not well-understood.

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St. Louis Zoo Celebrates National Pollinator Week

Submitted by KTVI-KPLR

Monday, June 11th, 2012, 3:49pm

St. Louis Zoo Celebrates National Pollinator Week

One out of every three bites of food we eat depends on pollinators. Honeybees, bumblebees and other insects, birds and small mammals pollinate over 90 percent of the planet's flowering plants and one third of human food crops.

June 18-24, 2012 has been declared “National Pollinator Week” to recognize the importance of pollinators for the health of ecosystems as well as our own survival.

During this week, the Monsanto Insectarium will host keeper chats, demonstrations on attracting bees to gardens, identifying different types of bees, beekeeping and more. The Painted Giraffe restaurant will offer daily specials featuring food provided by pollinators.

The Zoo is offering a special “Pollinator Dinner” on Thursday, June 21 in The Living World. The evening kicks off at 6 p.m. with a honey tasting, informational booths and cash bar serving mead. Guests may make a “bee hotel” to take home for their gardens.

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Botanical Garden Gets $3 Million Grant For Online Database

Submitted by KTVI-KPLR

Tuesday, June 5th, 2012, 12:25pm

Botanical Garden Gets $3 Million Grant For Online Database

The Missouri Botanical Garden has received a generous three-year, $3 million gift from Monsanto Company to support its work on the development of World Flora Online.

The World Flora is an international collaborative effort involving the leading botanical institutions worldwide to develop the first-ever comprehensive, authoritative and accessible online resource for the world’s approximately 400,000 known plant species.

The World Flora Online will improve access, analysis and management of critical botanical information for policy makers and planners, biodiversity conservation practitioners, botanists, ecologists, geneticists, other scientists and users of plant data worldwide.

The support of Monsanto Company will fund the Missouri Botanical Garden’s contributions to this ambitious endeavor from 2012 to 2015.

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Zoo Attendance Sets Year-To-Date Record, Topping 1 Million

Submitted by KTVI-KPLR

Monday, May 14th, 2012, 4:09pm

Zoo Attendance Sets Year-To-Date Record, Topping 1 Million

The Saint Louis Zoo announced that more than a million visitors have come through its doors since Jan. 1, 2012, setting a record for that five-month period.

Zoo attendance for that period was 1,089,097, as of May 13, 2012.

“We are thrilled with this attendance because it gives us the opportunity to connect more and more people with the need to conserve animals and their habitats,” says Dr. Jeffrey P. Bonner, Dana Brown President & CEO of the Saint Louis Zoo.

Attractions at the zoo will soon include Sea Lion Sound, opening June 30, offering up-close and personal contact with wonderful marine mammals – California sea lions and harbor seals.

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Earth Day Celebrated In St. Louis

Submitted by KTVI-KPLR Staff

Sunday, April 22nd, 2012, 9:23am

(KTVI)-Sunday, April 22, is Earth Day and St. Louis is celebrating by helping the planet. The 3^rd largest Earth Day festival in the country is being held in Forest Park from 11:00am-6:00pm on the Muny Grounds. For more on the festival, click here.

Trailnet: Pedal For the Planet Bicycle Tour
Save the planet and use pedal power as your mode of transportation at this guided tour celebrating Earth Day. Trailnet will offer free helmet fittings and helmets for the first 50 youth in need of a helmet. Fees: $5, $3 children 10 and under. Time: 9:30am

Shred It to Fix It at South County Center

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Crossroads College Prep Installing Largest Solar Panel Array

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Thursday, April 19th, 2012, 2:59pm

Crossroads College Prep Installing Largest Solar Panel Array

Crossroads College Preparatory School, a leader in sustainability in education, is now home to the largest solar photovoltaic installation on a school in the region. 364 solar panels totaling 87 kilowatts will soon power a portion of the Central West End School.

A new leasing option, offered through St. Louis-based StraightUp Solar and GreanGrid Solar, allows the school to lease the system at a lower cost than their conventional electricity bill.

“The decision to power our school with clean energy for an even lower cost than using coal-fired power from Ameren was a no-brainer. Over the course of our 10-year lease, the school will save at least $33,000 and will offset the burning of 1 million pounds of coal” says Susan Lanigan of Crossroads. “This action fits directly with Crossroad’s sustainability mission.”