Editor note: For interviews, please call the zoo’s media line at 206.684.4838 or E.J. Hook at 206.684.4806.

SEATTLE - Zoo Doo lovers, rejoice! Dr. Doo has a limited amount of Zoo Doo available for Woodland Park Zoo’s annual Spring Fecal Fest! The pungent piles of poop have cooked away hot as ever through the cold winter, producing beautiful mounds of the richest, highly aromatic, most exotic compost in the Pacific Northwest.

As usual, due to the ever-increasing popularity, there will be a drawing for this spring’s sale. Dr. Doo is accepting entry cards from March 25 until April 8 only. Remember, you may submit one request only. Phone orders will not be taken. However, if you just need more information, be sure to call the poop line at 206.625.POOP.

This is how it works: send a standard postcard to: Zoo Doo, Woodland Park Zoo, 601 N. 59th St., Seattle, WA 98103. Include the following information:

• Name
• Day/evening phone numbers
• Email address (if you have one)
• Amount of Zoo Doo you'd like to purchase (anything from a garbage bag to a full-size pick-up truck load)
• Weekday or weekend preference for pick-up

Pick-up dates begin April 22 and continue through April 29. Dr. Doo will randomly select as many cards as supplies of Zoo Doo allow and will contact you only if your lucky card was selected. The Fecal Fests traditionally sell out. And remember, you load your Zoo Doo yourself, using shovels the zoo provides.

Prices for pick-up trucks are 8x4 bed $50; 6x4 bed $40; 6x3 bed $35. Garbage cans are $6 to $10,
and bags are $3 to $6 depending on size. Limit one full truck per person.

Two-gallon and pint-sized buckets also are available in the ZooStore for $12.95 and $4.95, respectively.

The zoo cancelled 2004’s Fall Fecal Fest due to an herbicide contamination. The herbicide, chlopyralid (klo-PEER-uh-lid), is commonly used on hay and wheat fields in eastern Washington for the control of broadleaf weeds (non grass-like weeds). Unlike most other common herbicides, chlopyralid does not break down in the heat of the composting process and remains active in finished compost to the potential detriment of susceptible plants, primarily members of the pea, sunflower and tomato families.

Since the detection of the herbicide last fall, the zoo has changed several practices including changing to a wood chip bedding where appropriate and excluding wheat straw from the Zoo Doo composting operation where straw is still required. While these changes have resulted in a return to healthy and safe Zoo Doo, minute amounts of chlopyralid still can be found in this spring’s product at a level of 2 ppb (parts per billion). Gardeners can use this spring’s Zoo Doo with confidence.

If you have questions or need more information, call the poop line at 206.625.POOP, or visit the zoo's Web site at www.zoo.org.

Accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, award-winning Woodland Park Zoo is famed for pioneering naturalistic exhibits and setting a standard for zoos all over the world. With conservation, education and excellent animal care at the core of the zoo’s mission, the zoo is helping to save endangered species in Washington state and around the world including tree kangaroos, snow leopards, red-crowned cranes, African wild dogs, western pond turtles and Oregon silverspot butterflies. By inspiring visitors and others to care and act, Woodland Park Zoo is making a difference in our planet’s future.