Bill and Alice Nix Petting Zoo will be open to the public Saturday, Oct. 11

Oct. 1, 2008 -- Arkansas State University-Jonesboro's College of Agriculture and Technology announces the fall opening of the Bill and Alice Nix Petting Zoo on Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 9-11. The Petting Zoo will be open from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Thursday and Friday to schools only, and interested school groups should make reservations. On Saturday, Oct. 11, the zoo is open to the public from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

The Bill and Alice Nix Petting Zoo, sponsored by the College of Agriculture and Technology, is open twice a year – once in the spring (usually during the month of April) and once in the fall (usually during the month of October).  Admission to the petting zoo is free.

Petting zoo animals include two donkeys, two ponies, a miniature horse, two baby calves, sheep that can be hand-fed, baby twin lambs, three goats, and an assortment of baby chicks, ducks, pigs, cows, bunnies, chickens, a rooster, and the petting zoo’s pet deer. On Saturday, Oct. 11, children will be able to ride horses and go on hay rides.

This spring, the Bill and Alice Nix Petting Zoo hosted the entire Jonesboro Kindergarten Center (some 480 students) on the first day, and approximately 420 kindergarten-3rd grade students from various schools, including Paragould, the next day. Dr. Kim Pittcock, associate dean of the College of Agriculture and Technology, says, “Last spring, we estimated that we had approximately 3,000 children on Saturday, as well as the approximately 900 schoolchildren from the first two schools-only days, giving us a grand total of around 3,900 children in all.”

For more information, contact Sherry Ellis, Agriculture Studies Office, at (870) 972-2087, or e-mail her at sellis@astate.edu.


 

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