Dana Hedgpeth, Author at Valley News

In this Sept. 6, 2018 photo provided by the Maryland Zoo, a wild turtle with a broken shell gets around on a wheelchair made of Legos while on the mend at the zoo in Baltimore. News outlets reported that veterinarians had performed surgery on the grapefruit-sized eastern box turtle found in July with fractures to the underside of his shell. (Sinclair Miller/The Maryland Zoo via AP)

Slow Lego-ing: Turtle on Road to Recovery

by Dana Hedgpeth The Washington PostSeptember 27, 2018

Baltimore — A wild Eastern box turtle at the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore had trouble moving with a fractured shell.So with some creativity, ingenuity and sketches, a veterinary student designed and built a small wheelchair for the turtle. The material?…

Two screaming hairy armadillos were born at the National Zoo in Washington. It is the first time this type of armadillo species has been born at the facility. MUST CREDIT: Courtesy of Roshan Patel, Smithsonian’s National Zoo.

Screaming Hairy Armadillos Born in D.C. at National Zoo

by Dana Hedgpeth The Washington PostSeptember 3, 2017

Two sister grizzly bears are now at the Maryland Zoo; keepers said they still need to get the grizzlies used to their neighbor, a polar bear, in the outside area where their enclosures are about 30 feet apart. MUST CREDIT: Courtesy of the Maryland Zoo.

Creature Feature: After a Shooting and a Cross-Country Trip, Orphaned Grizzly Bear Sisters Make Zoo Debut

by Dana Hedgpeth The Washington PostMarch 4, 2017