BarZ Adventures and the Oklahoma City Zoo Introduce Interactive Video Zoo Tour 

The Oklahoma City Zoo is the first tourist attraction in the state to offer a Zoo Ranger™ guided tour to visitors

Release date: 4/28/2008

AUSTIN, Texas (April 28, 2008) – Visitors to the Oklahoma City Zoo have a new way to see the exhibits, have fun and learn more about the animals while exploring the 110 acre park.  BarZ Adventures Inc and the Oklahoma City Zoo collaborated to introduce Zoo Ranger™, a self-guided video tour system that gives visitors a behind-the-scenes tour of the zoo that’s the closest thing to a personal tour with a zookeeper.  

Zoo Ranger is a patent-pending handheld video tour guide system that delivers informative and entertaining full-color videos, audio, photography and animation based on location using the power of GPS (Global Positioning System) technology. The tour includes about 30 tour stops throughout the zoo and is hosted by Tara Henson, the zoo’s Director of Marketing and Public Relations.  

The self-paced tour includes in-depth, behind-the-scenes video footage of many of the zoos exhibits and animals. Some highlights of the tour are:  

• Oklahoma Trails, the zoo’s largest exhibit featuring 11 distinct eco-regions and over 800 animals from different native Oklahoman species
• Pygmy Hippos and a recounting of the unique ‘I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas’ fundraising campaign responsible for the purchase of the zoo’s first hippo, Mathilda, in 1953
• Red River Hogs and a look at the different types of animal enrichment activities that the zoo provides and why these are so important for the zoo’s animals
• Andean Condors, the largest flying land bird in the Western Hemisphere, and the conservation efforts the zoo is making to protect this South American species
• Venomous Snakes from the Oklahoma Trails reptile exhibit and a discussion of their distinguishing characteristics by Herpetologist and General Curator, Brian Aucone
• Grizzly Bears and a wild story of how the zoo’s grizzlies flew in from Alaska on Southwest Airlines
• Sea Lions and a special session of sea lion training with Senior Animal Trainer, Shannon Ray.

 In addition to the fascinating video content of the tour, the experience is further enhanced with interactive trivia questions and animal I.D. slides with close-up photographs and Latin names for the different species. The GPS components of the Zoo Ranger not only ensure that tour stop footage is automatically delivered as a user approaches an exhibit, but also includes a MapTracker ™ feature so users always know where they are in relation to tour stops and zoo facilities such as restaurants, gift shops and restrooms. Attraction and event listings in the Zoo Ranger keep visitors up to date with all the fun happenings at the zoo. 

“BarZ Adventures is proud to enable the innovative merging of new technology with conservation messages and animal education.  We are delighted to further expand our presence in zoos across America with the new addition of a tour at the beautiful Oklahoma City Zoo,” said Wm. Lee Little, founder and CEO of BarZ Adventures Inc. The Zoo Ranger Oklahoma City Zoo tour is available for only $9.95 for a 3.5 hour experience and can be rented from the stroller rental window at the main entrance of the zoo.  To view a demo version of the Oklahoma City Zoo tour, visit http://www.barzadventures.com/media/demos/OklahomaCityZoo/OklahomaCityDemo.html.  

ABOUT BARZ ADVENTURES INC
BarZ Adventures Inc, founded in 2005, is an Austin, TX based company combining experts in the fields of computer delivery systems and content development. BarZ Adventures has designed the patented Zoo Ranger™ and GPS Ranger™ systems with large venues and their visitors in mind – its sole mission is to enhance the visitor experience at high visitation tourist locations using modern technology. Ranger series tours are currently available at the San Francisco Zoo, Dallas Zoo, Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site, Cedar Breaks National Monument, Vicksburg National Military Park and Death Valley National Park.  Historic city walking tours are available in Key West, Florida and Austin, Texas, which is also the first tour to be made available in American Sign Language (ASL).  BarZ is proud to debut Deaf Friendly Tours, in ASL and Captioning, and hopes to bring accessible tours for the deaf and hard of hearing to a growing number of destinations.  Additional tours are coming soon to Santa Barbara Zoo, Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, Shenandoah National Park, Independence Hall in Philadelphia, St. Augustine, Florida and Bermuda.  For more information, log on to www.barzadventures.com, www.zooranger.com or call (512) 732-0135. 

ABOUT OKLAHOMA CITY ZOO
Named the state’s #1 attraction and the third-most family-friendly zoo in the nation, the Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Garden is located in the heart of Oklahoma City’s Adventure District at the crossroads of I-35 and I-44. The Zoo is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with exhibit buildings closing at dusk. Admission is $7 for adults and $4 for children ages three to 11 and seniors ages 65 and older. Children two and under are admitted free. For more information about the Zoo, log on to www.okczoo.com.