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Press Releases
Minnesota Zoo's Releases 2nd Episode of "Wolfquest"
Apple Valley, MINN – February 2, 2010 – Players of the award-winning “WolfQuest” game can now establish territories, raise wolf pups, and form their own family pack as the Minnesota Zoo releases “WolfQuest: Survival of the Pack”. A free download for Macintosh and Windows computers is available at wolfquest.org. An immersive, 3D wildlife simulation game, WolfQuest was developed by the Minnesota Zoo and St. Paul-based eduweb, award-winning developer of digital learning games. The game allows players to learn about wolf ecology by living the life of a wild wolf in Yellowstone National Park. Players play alone or with up to four friends in on-line multiplayer games. In Episode 1: Amethyst Mountain players explore the wilderness, hunt elk, and encounter stranger wolves in a quest to find a mate. The new release features episode 2: Slough Creek in which players find a den, establish a territory, raise pups and defend them from predators such as coyotes, grizzly bears and other stranger wolves. WolfQuest represents a new breed of video game-one that marries state of the art game design with scientifically accurate content,” says Grant Spickelmier, assistant director of education at the Zoo. Content for WolfQuest has been reviewed by prominent scientific experts. Advisors include Dr. L. David Mech and Dr. Dan MacNulty, two of the top wolf biologists in the world; Jack Grisham, AZA chair of the Canid Taxon Advisory Group; Jackie Fallon, curator at the Wild Canid Survival and Research Center; and staff at the International Wolf Center. Since its launch two years ago, WolfQuest has received a number of awards including a 2009 MUSE Awards from the American Association of Museums and The Editor’s Choice Award by Children’s Technology Review. It was also selected by the National Science Foundation to present at the 2009 Senate Education Technology Showcase in Washington D.C. WolfQuest has been downloaded over 400,000 times in over 200 countries. The online community forum currently has more than 125,000 registered users that have posted over 950,000 comments. In 2009, a comprehensive summative evaluation run by the Institute for Learning Innovation showed that player interest in, connection to, and knowledge about wolves increased significantly after playing WolfQuest. Throughout the evaluation, WolfQuest was shown to be highly effective in achieving its goals and providing a rich and rewarding learning experience for the players. The Minnesota Zoo leads a national network of zoos and science education centers that promote WolfQuest through their websites including the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota, Yellowstone National Park, Smithsonian National Zoological Park, Washington, D.C. Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, the Toronto Zoo, the California Wolf Center, the Knoxville Zoo, the Rosamond Gifford Park Zoo in New York, the Phoenix Zoo and the Wild Canid Survival and Research Center in Missouri. WolfQuest is made possible through grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) with local support provided by Best Buy Children’s Foundation, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and the ADC Foundation. For more information on WolfQuest, visit wolfquest.org or contact Project Director Grant Spickelmier at grant.spickelmier@state.mn.us or 952.431.9226. The Minnesota Zoo is located in Apple Valley, just minutes south of Mall of America. For more information, call 952.431.9500 or visit mnzoo.org. The Minnesota Zoo is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and an institutional member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).
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