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Video takes two students Down Under: Australia Zoo hosting juniors from animal magnet program
Nov 08, 2009 (Sun Sentinel - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Because they "hug skunks," two teens from South Florida are headed to The Land Down Under.
Daniella Macias and Ashlyn Valdes, both 16 and juniors at South Plantation High School, entered a video contest showing their work with animals at the school's Environmental Science and Everglades Restoration magnet program.
As winners of the contest that drew more than 40 entries from the United States, Australia and Canada, they'll get to spend five days at the Australia Zoo and see it "as no one else gets to see it," vowed Terri Irwin, the widow of Steve Irwin, on a YouTube video.
Australian adventurer Steve Irwin captivated fans worldwide with his show "The Crocodile Hunter." He died in September 2006 at age 44. In a freak accident, his heart was pierced by a stingray's barb.
"Steve Irwin is a hero to me," said Macias, of Plantation, who is on the zoo's e-mail list because she hopes to one day work in the conservation program there. "I wish I could follow in his footsteps. I've always been a conservation type of person."
Valdes, of Sunrise, said she also wants to work with animals. "I want to walk into my job and feed a cheetah cub," she said.
The girls were chosen by Terri Irwin and her two children because of their "passion" for wildlife, said zoo spokeswoman Emma McCudden. "Because you guys love possums, it's paid off," Terri Irwin said in the zoo's video.
The girls said they are dedicated to feeding and caring for the animals in their school's program, among them snakes, pigs, ferrets, hamsters, a gecko, birds and even stray kittens.
They leave Nov. 11 and arrive in Australia two days later. They will spend five days in Queensland, home of the zoo.
"It's a lifetime dream come true," Macias gushed. "It's in your heart. That's what you want to do, what you're meant to do."
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