Adventure Aquarium Marks 'Endangered Species Day' With Animals and Activities
By John McDevitt
CAMDEN, N.J. (CBS) -- Today, on "Endangered Species Day," kids at Adventure Aquarium in Camden were learning what they can do to protect wildlife from disappearing.
Visitors were standing in line to see Mighty Mike (top photo), the fourteen-foot, 800-pound American alligator.
Senior biologist Jennifer Duffy was holding a baby American alligator (below) as she explained that the species is a success story: one of the first to be listed on the list created by the Endangered Species Act of 1973 -- but no longer.
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"Their habitat has been protected," says Duffy. "Their population has been protected, and despite overwhelming odds they rebounded and were actually able to be delisted."
Eleven-year-old Riely Hickox of Dover, Del. was among the kids who made posters illustrating ideas of how to protect animals from extinction.
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"Instead of just hurting the animals for food or fur or whatever," she said, "they have to have special habitats just for them. Some people can donate money to give them a safer, better home."
Sea turtles and African penguins are among the animals at the Adventure Aquarium which are still on the endangered list.
The corn snake and several species of turtles are among the endangered wildlife species found in the Delaware Valley area.
