GEICO Gecko tour ends 2009 at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

CLEVELAND.– GEICO’s traveling Gecko Exhibit will make its last stop of 2009 at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, bringing the giant day geckos to the residents of Northeast Ohio from Sept. 15 to Dec. 31, 2009. This stop brings GEICO’s one-year anniversary celebration to a close, and prepares new AZA-accredited (Association of Zoos and Aquariums) zoos and aquariums for the second year of GEICO and AZA’s three-year partnership designed to promote wildlife conservation.

The GEICO tour features giant day geckos, one of the largest of all geckos, which are native to Madagascar and the Indian Ocean islands. The GEICO Gecko costume character will also appear at the zoo on select weekends through the end of December, a schedule of which can be found on the Zoo’s Web site at www.clemetzoo.com.

GEICO and AZA took the traveling GEICO Gecko Exhibit on a whirlwind trip of AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums nationwide throughout 2009, launching the tour’s one-year anniversary at the Miami Metro Zoo, stopping next at the world’s largest aquarium in Atlanta and then heading to America’s first zoo in Philadelphia.

Through GEICO’s AZA advertisements, which have helped boost zoo and aquarium attendance, GEICO has provided a commitment to the AZA and wildlife conservation. The tour will continue into 2010, with the next stops to be announced early next year.

“It has been an exciting year, traveling to each AZA zoo and aquarium, and celebrating our exhibit’s one-year anniversary with families around the country,” said GEICO Vice President Rynthia Rost. “Watching children learn about conservation efforts and helping them understand the importance of preserving our wildlife for future generations has been a hugely gratifying experience for everybody involved.”