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Dear Diary, People staring at me all day and every day stress me out. So I try to hide. Being hidden makes me feel secure, secure as I can in this stupid enclosure. I miss being out in the wild with my family and going on routine hunts with my little ones. Now that I'm in this zoo I've lost all instinct of hunting, let alone interacting. When there is a full moon, I feel as if I am half. The waves of my voice altered as it passes through the hexagon holes of the cage. I am only in here with 3 other wolves, we don't get along so well. When i do occasionally get some sun, all I see is bystanders from the outside recording in, as if I am some figment of imagination and an object. I hope to be free and reunited someday, but who knows if i will know the same.

Sincerely,

Wolfie

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Dear zoo diary: It's another very freezing day at the zoo. I'm outside and I wish I could go inside instead of being stuck in this treacherous weather. The snow is falling so much its hard to see. I wish it was the summmer when so many people come and visit. The summer days go by so much faster with all the company we get. Although I like the summer so much more. During the winter I get a lot of time to spend sleeping. Which is nice but gets to be boring after awhile. I spend most my days dreaming about summer again so I canm be entertained. Seeing all the people look so excited and having so much fun.

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Dear diary, Today felt like a lifetime stuck in the zoo with the monkeys. Staring at the glass and imagining what it would be like outside of this zoo. The days are long and the night is even longer. When the trainers come the day gets better because I get a wonderful fresh banana. I savor every bite because I wont get another until tomorrow. They train me to do some tricks and show off to the visitors of the zoo. Today we got some new toys but nothing compares to what it would be like outside of this zoo. The toys entertain me for a while and are always fun and exciting. Today like everyday I couldn't help but wonder what lies beyond the glass. We groom each other and climb the ropes to entertain each others. But wishing I was in the jungle in the warm sun on a tall tree.

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Dear Diary- today was a quiet and peaceful day in my enclosure. I slithered out from my cozy hiding spot to bask under my heat lamp. the warmth feels so good on my scales as I watched the visitors pass by, some fascinated, and others a little scared. After the visitors had left, the zookeepers brought me a fat mouse. I ate my meal very slowly to savor each bite. After eating, I curled back up on my favorite branch. Later that evening, I decided to explore every corner of my space, enjoying the different textures. as the night went on, I found a snug spot to curl up and sleep. life in the zoo is calm and predictable, but I feel content here.

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Dear Diary, being stuck in a cage all day as a gorilla is hell. People coming up to the glass harassing me. Making faces and gorilla noses. I wish the conditions of my cage were better. The food I get is very mid too. I eat a lot of bananas. Sometimes I eat so many I get really full then take a nap. It is hard to nap with all the people surrounding my cage. Especially when they bang on the glass. I really hope one day I can break out of the place. Maybe meet another gorilla, start a gorilla family, have some little gorilla cubs.

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Dear Diary - Its another hot day at the zoo, me and my zebra friends get bored hanging around the same spots everyday. I wish we could be in our homeland running free. The food here is not appealing and gets very repetitive. Everyone stops and looks at me while they pass by, amazed by my looks. The other Zebras get jealous but I can't do much to help them. I'm glad we get to sit in the sun all day, that is usually the best past time activity. Unless we get to go for a nice swim to cool off on those hot days. The water really is refreshing, especially when there are no predators trying to eat me! My friends and I kick the ball around sometimes, even at the other animals that are stuck inside this awful fence. Someday I hope the people outside the fence take it down and let us live freely.

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Dear Diary- today was a very eventful day at the zoo. all the pandas were having fun messing around with the food. It started by one panda throwing food at another and then it all got crazy from there. there was the big fat leader that got mad and started screaming at all of us. we all got scared and stopped throwing the food which made it all better in the zoo. it ended up as a good day and all the pandas were haappy.

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December 17th

Dear zoo diary, my days as a monkey get a little tiring. Swinging from branch to branch while people cheer for me gets overwhelming. People are constantly coming to see me and they instantly get excited when they do, it gets hard being this loved. My nights get quite lonely in the zoo but sometimes it feels comforting. My favorite part of the day is getting fed I really love food! I believe I'm the best animal at the zoo my cage is constantly being watched over and everyone's saying how cute I am and taking pictures of me. Sometimes I like to disappoint people and sleep while they come to me. My favorite place to take a nap is definitely in the tree, it reminds me of my youth days. When people come and tap on the glass it makes me so mad and a lot of people have been doing that today! I am constantly counting down the minutes until the zoo shuts down and I can be alone with my roomates.

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Dear Diary: Today was a very quiet day but quite eventful. Its June 17 today and all I did was sit in my little habitat and sat in my tree all day and looked at people pass by. There was this one big fat guy that passed by I thought it was a big fat hippo but it was just a guy wearing all grey and was fat so that made me laugh LOL. Everyone always comes up to me during the day and just talks about how cute I am and it gets annoying sometimes because I already know I'm the cutest zoo animal in the world. I just swing in my tree and they take so many pictures of me it feels like paparazzi. I'm not much of a entertainer when it comes to the competition at our zoo the dolphins are doing tricks and seals clapping their fins how I am supposed to compete with that, I just sit in a tree all day and do nothing. I'm kinda getting bored of this place and I want to go back to my tree in Brazil. I had the best view and the best food and I always saw people paragliding and this one time I saw a guy fall out and die. My days in the zoo aren't as fun as they were in Brazil but it's okay I win cutest animal of the month every month.

XOXO

Slothina

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Dear diary- As a polar bear stuck in the zoo, I often find myself staring at the distant horizon the enclosures that keep me here . The chill of the artificial water pool is a poor for the me and the others , icy expanses of my Arctic homeland. Visitors come and go, pressing their faces against the glass, but their laughter and excitement only serve to my loneliness. Every day, I watch the sun rise and set, yearning for the freedom to roam over miles of snow and hunt for seals in the waters. My fur once thick and white coat with the bright of the wild, feels itchy and out of place the surroundings. With each passing day, I grow more lonely , my natural instincts are dying by captivity. The activities offered by the zookeepers feel like a poor imitation of the challenges I would face in the wild. I dream of the same Arctic winds touching my fur, the thrill of a successful hunt. I am just in a world where I should be the ruler. It is a reality knowing I am both a symbol of the Arctic and a captive with my dreams locked away behind the fences that hold me.

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To my zoo dairy: It is in fact another long boring day at the Como Zoo. I despise being contained and confined to this tall concrete box. I need a way out. I personally am the only lion left in the zoo. At first I didn´t mind this job, entertaining all the kids in the summer. Now that winter has come, I am cold and completely exhausted. I miss the heat and open jungle back home. I was stripped from my home and family all to be put on display. At the new years, I play to escape. I will run back home and nothing will stop me. I can get out through the door that my grumpy zookeeper opens. The sad food gets stuck in my mane and doesn´t fill me up. This place is awful, I will go home.

Sincerely,

Lionn.

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Dear Diary: It is December 16th and yet again, I have to look at people look at me. I can’t even remember a time I was able to run with full speed wherever and whenever I wanted. In Fact, the last thing I remember was waking up and seeing creatures with two legs. Since then, I’ve had the same boring routine everyday. They make me learn tricks that I DO NOT wanna do…but I do get snacks if I do the tricks correctly. That's the only good thing about being stuck in a zoo, specifically a zoo in Minnesota. I don’t have to use my speed to get food, it is just handed to me. Although humans on the other side of the clear wall look more appetizing. Also, the weather is freezing right now, like couldn’t they have sent me somewhere warmer. No matter how much trees or how much grass they have in this cage, nothing feels like how it did when I was free in South Africa.

Sincerely,

Cheemah

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Hey! So it's another cold day here at the Minnesota zoo. Being a rhino here at this zoo during the winter is so boring. I have to stay indoors in a gross dirt filled pool, and there are so many flies and birds that land on me all day. So annoying!! I try and rest and all I am able to hear is humans talking so loudly and feeding the seals next to me fish! When am I going to get a nice treat like they do? I just get to eat all of the scraps naughty little kids throw in my cage in the summer, but now that it's winter here... life is BORING! My tiger friend Tigger said that he was going to bring me a big slice of steak for dinner tomorrow if his keeper lets him out of his cage. Wouldn't that be tasty! I also might try and go on a run with Ruby rhino shes pretty cute, hopefully I don't run into the glass surrounding us. That would be soooo embarassing. Anyway, I think I am going to find a way to escape this place, and get all of my friends out with me too.

Sincerely,

Rhinoah

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when i fly i see many people ethier driving cars, walking, or running. its cool to see all the other animals to know i am the biggest animal that can fly. but all i do is sit around all day unless im hunting for food, weather that is fish, mice, or rabbits. i am the symbol of amarica so i get all the respect in the world. i get annoyed alot becouse everytime i see people they are always taking a picture of me. i also get sad somtimes becouse when ever i fly close to peoples dogs they get scared and think im going to take them even though i may be the biggest and strongest animal that can fly, somtimes its not so great. i want to help all of the other animals in the zoo that are locked up but i know im just a eagle and cant do alot.

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December 16th

Dear Diary: It's another frigid day here at the Como Zoo. Why on Earth am I stuck in this frozen tundra when I could be basking in the golden sun of the savanna? Honestly, whoever decided Minnesota was a good place for giraffes must’ve been sniffing too much rhino dung. Do they think these long, graceful legs were made for trudging through snow? Ugh, the indignity of it all.

Speaking of indignity, the humans here really need a fashion intervention. I mean, honey, what is that coat? Leopard print? Really? That’s not bold; that’s tacky. If I were in charge, the dress code for zoo visitors would be "no animal prints ever."

I did manage to swipe some cotton candy today, though. A kid got too close to the railing, and, well, I couldn’t resist. Sticky, yes, but deliciously worth it. They should thank me for saving them from a sugar rush.

I'm contemplating escaping this prison...more to come.

Sincerely,

Geonnifer