Zoo New England announced today that Christopher the Lion has died. He was 21.

Christopher, born in Florida, had lived at Franklin Park since 2001 - and exceeded the average lifespan of a lion in captivity by more than four years.

In a statement, Zoo New England President John Linehan said:

Zoo New England and city officials today announced plans for a new $6.6-million children's zoo that will feature a number of outdoor animal exhibits and both indoor and outdoor classroom spaces to introduce kids to animals and the environments they live in.

Mayor Walsh was on hand for the announcement, which included news that the city's George Robert White Fund is kicking in $3 million towards the cost of construction. Zoo officials said they have already raised another $1.5 million.

Jef Taylor introduces us to nut weevils, like the one he found inside the Franklin Park Zoo's library the other day.

Adults seek out acorns still on the tree, use their preposterous proboscis to drill through the nut shell, and feed on the meat inside. Females lay their eggs into these holes, and the legless larvae hatch and live within. The larva is somewhat protected by the seed shell, but a nut is no real obstacle to a squirrel, who will happily eat a fat weevil grub. One study showed that gray squirrels immediately consumed weevil-infested acorns 3/4 of the time they were available.

On the other hand, traffic along Blue Hill Avenue by the entrance to the Franklin Park Zoo is a complete mess today.

Latest flower photo from the Franklin Park Zoo shows the corpse flower unfurling, should be in full bloom, stink, by tomorrow.

Hasn't the poor guy suffered enough indignities in his life in Franklin Park? The Globe reports the gorilla was unable to pick between the Patriots and Giants so the zoo had to swap in some substitute gorilla for the dumb stunt.

AlertNewEngland reports two men in an apparently stolen car tried to speed away from police and wound up hitting a pedestrian on Columbus Avenue and two cars, including one that finally stopped them on Seaver Street.

The two men fled on foot. One suspect was quickly captured; the other made it to the bear cages at the Franklin Park Zoo before being apprehended.

The Franklin Park Zoo is planning an unusual adults-only evening at the zoo on Oct. 2. Between 5 and 9 p.m., you'll be able to suck down beers as you stroll among the animals - who, based on the logo, won't be feeling much pain themselves.

State Police have identified the person who fell 30 feet into a Franklin Park Zoo gorilla pen refashioned as a movie set as Arnold Milfort, 27, of Dorchester.

No animals were harmed in the making of Milfort's plunge, State Police report, adding:

Cleary Squared writes the anti-PETA publicists running the local zoos need to be taught a lesson after their killing-fields stunt over the weekend.

The Outraged Liberal doesn't go that far but writes legislators need to take a step back and carefully consider what to do about this latest plea from Zoo New England - which has been on the brink for a couple decades now - before simply giving them everything they want.

David Bernstein considers what might happen if other organizations adopted Zoo New England's tactic:

... Administrators of the Greater Boston Food Bank now say that, despite earlier predictions, they are now "reasonably confident" that state lawmakers will be spared the sight of the Charles River running thick with the corpses of Massachusetts's emaciated children this summer. In a statement released today, the Food Bank says that they can probably keep the state's most vulnerable children fed for two months on the meat from euthanized zoo animals.