Celebrate nature, and learn more about how to protect it, through special programs and events at a zoo near you.

Get tips on what you can do to help the planet stay green. Find out what zoos are doing to help save endangered species. Discover something you didn't know before about exotic habitats around the world. Bring your teddy bear with you and listen to bear tales and songs. These are just a handful of the many events that will take place on Zoo Tour days all across the country.

In its first year, the NATURE Zoo Tour will support events at zoos across the country, launching Earth Day and running through July 2008. Check your local zoo web site to learn more.

Where and When:

• April 19-20: Chicago - Lincoln Park Zoo
  Local station: WTTW
  
  
• April 19: Denver Zoo
  Local station: Rocky Mountain PBS
  
  
• April 26-27: Dallas Zoo
  Local station: KERA
  
  
• May 10: Cincinnati Zoo
  Local station: CET
  
  
• May 17-18: New York - Bronx Zoo
  Local station: Thirteen/WNET
  
  
• May 17-18: Los Angeles Zoo
  Local station: KCET
  
  
• May 24-26: Portland - Oregon Zoo
  Local station: OPB
  
  
• May 31-June 1: Boston - Stone Zoo
  Local station: WGBH
  
  
• July 12-13: Kansas City Zoo
  Local station: KCPT

Toyota is hosting the Nature Zoo Tour 2008 to celebrate wildlife and encourage its preservation. Partnered with PBS' award-winning Nature series, for which it is a corporate sponsor, Toyota will fund public events at U.S. zoos across the country this spring to support endangered species and increase awareness of their need for protection.

Photos © Matthew Wright (top), Monterey Bay Aquarium (middle), Rom Whitaker (bottom).