Simon Armitage's Moon Zoo Poem

0:00On April 20, London Zoo just hid its 200th birthday and to celebrate the current poet Laurierte Simon Armitage dropped a fresh poem called The Moon and the Zoo. This spot has inspired big names for centuries, from painters like Edwin Lansier, crafting those Trafalgar Square Lions to writers like A.A. Milne, naming Winnie the Pooh after a bear there, and even Sylvia Plath pinning poems about the place. Her husband Ted Hughes washed dishes at the zoo back in the day, sparking ideas for his famous fox poem. Now Armitage joins that legacy with this piece, narrated in a cool animation that takes listeners on a dreamy night ride through the zoo and into the wild. Armitage hung out with the animals and staff, meeting a spider named Katie, eyeing some ocean tigers, and peeking into the reptile house. He got hooked on their secret night lives, using the moon as a symbol for the unknown, and ZSL's quiet conservation work. The Zoological Society of London started in 1826 to push animal science, opening the

1:02world's first scientific zoo two years later, visited by folks like Charles Darwin before going public in 1847. As Don hits in the poem, the moon passes the world's keys to us humans, reminding everyone of our shared duty to protect wildlife, just in time for. ZSL's Big Milestone.