Lion Country Safari Bowls To Raise Money for Rhino Conservation

West Palm Beach, FL - Lion Country Safari staff members will strike big while raising money for rhino conservation organizations. On June 25, animal keepers and other participants will sponsor a bowling fundraiser to promote awareness and funds in support of Earth's second largest land animal, the rhinoceros. The event will be held Thursday, June 25, 2009 from 7pm to 9pm at the Palm Beach Strike Zone in Boynton Beach.

The three organizations that will receive the benefit of the Bowling for Rhinos fundraiser are: Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya, home to black and white rhinos; Ujung Kulon National Park in Java, Indonesia, home to the last Javan rhinos on earth; and Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park in Sumatra, Indonesia, where one of the largest populations of Sumatran rhinos live. One hundred percent of all donated funds from Bowling for
Rhinos go directly to these three conservation organizations.

The Bowling for Rhinos fundraiser has been held annually since 1990 by the national American Association of Zoo Keepers (AAZK) organization, raising over $3,000,000 for rhinos entirely through volunteer efforts. AAZK was formed in 1967 and offers zoo professionals the opportunity to work for the betterment of animal care through its Conservation, Preservation and Restoration Committee and its Environmental Enrichment Committee. The Association also offers grants to keepers interested in husbandry, field or reproductive research.

Guests of Lion Country Safari can do their part to help AAZK"s animal efforts by participating in this year's bowling fundraiser. Anyone can purchase tickets for $20 each prior to the event from the Bowling for Rhinos coordinator, Sean Mallee; phone number 561-793-1084 x 127. Tickets at the door are $25 each. The ticket cost covers admission to the event (2 hours of bowling, shoe rental, pizza, and soda) and a $10 donation to the
"Bowling for Rhinos" fund. In addition, participants are encouraged to find sponsorship money to increase individual donations made to the "Bowling for Rhinos" fund. Ask for your sponsorship form when you purchase your ticket prior to the event. On the night of the event, prizes will be awarded to participants who collected the highest amounts of sponsorship money! You can also help the local AAZK chapter by recycling a cell phone at the admissions booth at Lion Country Safari. The cell phones are donated to and recycled by ECO-CELL. Learn more at www.eco-cell.org. With each cell phone donated, guests will receive an animal feeding coupon to use inside Lion Country Safari's Safari World walk-through park.