Spotlight on flora, fauna and Halloween in the Bronx

Photo courtesy of NYBG.com.

The New York Yankees aren”™t the only excitement in the Bronx these days.  

The Bronx Zoo is working with other zoos and partners toward a major milestone in the conservation of the Rote Island (pronounced RO-tee) snake-necked turtle”¯(Chelodina”¯mccordi). Thirty-six zoo-bred turtles left the Bronx Zoo Sept. 27 bound for Mandai Wildlife Group”™s Singapore Zoo as part of a collaboration that will eventually introduce the animals to their native range in Indonesia, where the species is functionally extinct. 

At the neighboring New York Botanical Garden, it”™s time once again for “Kiku” (through Oct. 30), the Japanese art of the chrysanthemum. Both the garden and the zoo are prime attractions for families in October, with the zoo”™s “Dinosaurs in Darkness: The Hatching” (Oct. 7 through 29) and NYBG”™s “Fall-o-Ween” (through Oct. 31).