"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.

Meet Twoflower, the black-footed ferret!

This is Twoflower, a 12-week old female black-footed ferret born at the Louisville Zoo.

Twoflower was named in honor of Sean Astin, who visited the Zoo in July. Sean played the naive tourist Twoflower in the 2008 UK miniseries "The Colour of Magic," based on the Terry Pratchett Discworld novels. He has said in interviews that Twoflower is one of his favorite characters.

Twoflower and her unnamed sister as newborns

Twoflower and an unnamed sister, shown here as newborns, were born on June 15. Their mom is Maize, a 5-year old ferret who has proven to be one of the Zoo's most successful breeders, producing a total of 28 kits since 2008. Twoflower's father is Seabiscuit.

Twoflower will remain at the Zoo where she will be bred next spring. Her sister will shortly be sent to a black-footed ferret "boot camp" where she will learn to hunt prairie dogs before being released at one of 19 reintroduction sites in the Great Plains.

Black-footed ferrets (cousins to the domestic ferret many people keep as pets) are among the most endangered mammals in the world, and were once thought extinct.  A small population was discovered in Wyoming in 1981, and when the numbers continued to decline, the remaining 18 animals were captured and a captive-breeding program begun. The program has been successful to date, with approximately 1,000 ferrets now living in the wild.

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!

Sean to visit black-footed ferrets

While in Louisville next weekend for the Fright Night Film Festival/Fandom Fest, Sean Astin will get a behind the scenes tour of the black-footed ferret breeding facility at the Louisville Zoo.

The endangered black-footed ferret will be a focus of WLKY-TV's live shots every half-hour during their Sunday morning newscast. Ferret Keeper Guy Graves and zoo Media Relations Manager Kyle Shepard will talk about BFFs and the breeding program with Sean expected to appear shortly after 8am and 8:30am.

Black-footed ferret kit. Source