"Rudy" finalist for baby giraffe name!

He may be only 5 foot nothin', 100 and nothin', but "Rudy" has been chosen as one of three finalist in the naming contest for the baby giraffe at the Louisville Zoo! You may recall that Sean met the then 5-day old giraffe when while in Louisville for Fandom Fest this summer.

Now three months old, the youngster is 7'2". Louisville Zoo visitors can vote for "Rudy" or one of the other finalists "Silvester" and "Cassius" by dropping money in the kiosk near the Zoo's entrance. Voting ends October 14.

Sean already has a young black-footed ferret named Twoflower in his honor residing at the Zoo. Pretty soon they may name the whole Zoo after him! ;-)

More info on name voting here. Photos by Kyle Shepard.

Ferrets and elephants and bears, oh my!

Bright and early the Sunday morning of Fandom Fest in Louisville, Sean Astin was invited for a unique behind the scenes tour of the Louisville Zoo, specifically to see the endangered black-footed ferret breeding facility, one of a handful in the country.

On arriving at the Zoo, we were met by ferret keeper Guy Graves, who explained a little about the rare animals in his charge.

Black-footed ferrets, once thought extinct, were rediscovered in 1981, but by 1987, there were only 18 animals left. Thanks to a successful captive-breeding and reintroduction program, numbers have climbed to around 1300, and they are slowly being returned to their native prairie habitat. Read more about black-footed ferrets here.

Because of the ferrets' susceptibility to disease, staff and visitors must shower and change into scrubs and masks before entering the ferret room!

This ferret was as curious about Sean as he was about the ferret!