The sixth-graders from Coyote Creek Middle School were gathered around the Red Ruffed Lemur exhibit. The children, with notebooks in hand and intent in their eyes, scanned the exhibit in hopes of catching a glimpse of the elusive creature.

The children were on a long overdue field trip from their home in Surry, BC, to the Woodland Park Zoo. It had been a tradition for the school, one put on hold for five years after 9/11.

Their field trip, on Thursday, May 11, coincided with Endangered Species Day, an event declared by the United States Senate to raise public awareness about conservation efforts for animals facing extinction. At the Woodland Park Zoo, there are 35 resident endangered species. The zoo participates in cooperative breeding programs that work to ensure genetic diversity and demographic stability of the animals, and collaborates with other zoos and aquariums around the nation on research.

The children from BC were working on their own research project at the zoo. They each picked four animals, two from Savanna and another two from the Rainforest, to study. By this time, they'd seen all the animals except the lemurs.

"It's so amazing!" said 12 year-old Danielle. "We saw the orangutan and he came right up to the glass to see us." Her classmate Megan, 11, piped in to say that she liked the green snake who could camouflage himself to hide from them.

The children diverted their attention away from the lemurs for a moment excited to speak of their adventures to the group who had now gathered around the exhibit. Distracted from their subject for just a moment, screeches suddenly erupted from beneath the brush in the lemurs exhibit. Someone in the family was considerably upset. In a flurry the kids darted back to the edge of the fence to see what all the fuss was about. The opportunity to get a glimpse of the red ruffed lemur had finally arrived. The children who had traveled all the way from Canada were absolutely ecstatic.

Several of the lemurs scurried up into the trees where they were now in full view and had a captive audience. Their vocal roars thundered for a couple of minutes as the children quickly documented their observations. It was a spontaneous and compelling theatrical event, but not the only one at the zoo that day.

You could sit at the Western Lowland Gorilla exhibit for hours observing the human-like behavior of these wonderfully intriguing mammals. The expressions on their faces suggest they're just as intrigued about us.

One of the rarest and a must-see endangered species exhibit is the Komodo Dragon. It is the world's largest lizard. These reptiles look like something out of a sci-fi movie. They are stunningly unusual creatures that live on a few islands in Eastern Indonesia. They live in two habitats-the monsoon forest and savannas. Visitors can be taken aback by something that looks so alien and out of place - right here in Woodland Park.

Helen Anne Gately is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.