Unique Gift for Wild-Animal Lovers

If you are looking for an incredibly unique gift for an animal lover for their birthday, Valentine's Day, or any other special occasion, adopting an animal has become very popular. The state of Missouri and Florida have made it easy to adopt with their Penguin and Manatee adoption programs.

ADOPT A PENGUIN

The St. Louis Zoo is offering an "Adopt a Penguin" program to raise proceeds for the care and feeding of the animals. When you adopt a penguin, you receive a 12-inch stuffed king penguin, a personalized adoption certificate, a color photo and fact sheet, car decal and T-shirt iron on. They will also place your name on the Zoo Parents Kiosk for a full year and send you an invitation to the Zoo Parents Picnic.

You don't have to be a resident of Missouri to adopt a penguin. The Zoo will deliver the adoption package to anyone in the United States at no additional charge. To adopt a Penguin you can use the simple order form on line at www.stlzoo.org or call 314-646-4771. Orders received after February 4 are not guaranteed to arrive by the 14th, so you may have to present your gift in some other creative way, unless you can get to the kiosk in person at the Zoo. You can pick them up in person through February 14.

"When you adopt an animal, your donation goes towards the animal's care and daily feeding. For a few dollars, you can pick up the tab for an elephant's 100-pounds-a-day hay habit or keep a sea lion swimming pretty with 25 pounds of fish a day. So why not adopt a Humboldt penguin, an African lion or even an American alligator? Whatever animal you choose, you'll know all your money goes to support your new family member and the entire Zoo."

To see the huge list of animals available for adoption go to: ZOO PARENTS PROGRAM

ADOPT A MANATEE

Florida has a similar program for adopting Manatees who are at a high risk of extinction. In 2009, over 429 manatees died, 97 of them killed by boats and others, about 107, by an unexpected 2 week cold snap in the Florida region in January. Save the Manatee Club, originally founded by Jimmy Buffett, offers the adoption for $25 and includes 2 plush toys, an adoption certificate, full-color photo, and biography of a real endangered Florida manatee. You also receive a membership handbook, a copy of The Manatee Zone (their official Club newsletter featuring updates on the adopted manatees), and Paddle Tales (their e-newsletter - if you wish to provide your email address).

The neat thing about this program is you have the opportunity to adopt a specific manatee. You can read their story and see their progress. You can even visit one of the 3 locations that house the manatees and visit your adopted animal in the Florida area. Funds from the Adopt-A-Manatee program go toward efforts to help protect manatees and their habitat. For detailed information about how to adopt a manatee, go to savethemanatee.org.