Children love slumber parties -- it's a fact -- which is the reason why so many look forward to the New Year holiday: it's the one night when many families deem it appropriate for youngsters to stay up past their bedtime to celebrate. The Louisville Zoo has capitalized on this trend this year by offering the first-annual "Zoo Snooze," the wildest way to ring in 2012!

The Louisville Zoo’s newest baby giraffe will now be called “Amani” after a month-long naming contest. “Amani” means “peace” in the Swahili language.  Zoo visitors had until October 31^st to vote for their favorite name via coins and bills in the appropriate slot at a naming kiosk on the Zoo’s front plaza.

Louisville Zoo staff have chosen three potential names for a female baby giraffe born earlier this Summer. Zoo visitors will have through October 31, 2011 to vote for their favorite name via a kiosk on the Zoo’s front plaza.  Votes can be placed by making a contribution of coins or bills into the slot representing their favorite name. The name with the highest total donations will be declared the winner and announced when the donations are tallied.

The Louisville Zoo issued a press release, they have another  new polar bear! Siku, a 585 lb nearly two year-old male polar bear cub arrived safely in Louisville from the Toledo Zoo on September 6. Siku is the second polar bear cub to move to the Louisville  Zoo’s newest exhibit, the arctic-themed Glacier Run which opened in April 2011. His addition brings the Glacier Run polar bear population to three (there are only 79 polar bears in zoos in North America).  He joins seven month-old female, Qannik, the rescued Alaskan cub and Arki, an adult female polar bear.