The zoo's ready for April Fool

With April 1st being April Fool's Day, a zoo in Des Moines, Iowa is getting ready for a rush of prank phone calls.

If you get a message to call a "Mr. Don Key" on Wednesday, the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines is one step ahead of you. The zoo, in an effort to stop the numerous prank calls it typically gets on April Fools' Day, has set up four hotlines for pranksters looking to dupe others. Numbers have been set up for such April Fools standbys as "Mr. Albert Ross," "Mr. C. Lyon," "Ms. Anna Conda," and the aforementioned "Mr. Don Key."

Each number has a prerecorded message letting callers know they'd been fooled.

Marketing director Ryan Bickel says the lines are a proactive attempt to stop the zoo's switchboard from getting flooded with prank calls without dampening the mood of the day.

Not a bad idea, I guess - although it might be more fun to actually broadcast the sounds of the animals concerned when someone calls 'their' number!



Peter