Cue the COVID cancellations in 3... 2... 1...

ZooMontana announced in a press release Tuesday (8/25) that due to concerns about the rising cases of COVID-19 in Yellowstone County, they are cancelling two of their biggest fall events.

  • CANCELLED: 2021 Montana Renaissance Festival (was scheduled for Sept. 4 and 5)
  • CANCELLED: Boo at the Zoo (was scheduled for Oct. 30)
Credit: ZooMontana
Credit: ZooMontana
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Both events draw thousands to the Zoo.

The Montana Renaissance Festival usually attracts over 8,000 people during the two-day event and another 5,000 visitors attend Boo at the Zoo. ZooMontana Executive Director Jeff Ewelt said in the press release,

The recent uptick in COVID-19 delta variant cases prevents us from holding large-scale events on our grounds.

Ewelt added,

We are supporting our local health officials' calls for preventative measures and thank the community for its understanding and support.

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Nicole Riley/TSMBillings
Nicole Riley/TSMBillings
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Other events remain on the ZooMontana calendar.

According to their events page, other popular events have not been cancelled (yet). Those include:

  • Billings Kiwanis Movies Under the Stars (8/27, 9/11)
  • Ales for Trails (9/10)
  • Rubber Duck Regatta (9/26)

Fall can be a great time to visit the zoo. As extreme heat begins to tapers off, many of the animals become more active. Plus, it's pretty easy to practice social distancing on the zoo's 70-acre complex. ZooMontana has seen a number of new animal additions over the past year or so, including a baby bison, baby mini-donkey and two new goats.

LOOK: Here are the pets banned in each state

Because the regulation of exotic animals is left to states, some organizations, including The Humane Society of the United States, advocate for federal, standardized legislation that would ban owning large cats, bears, primates, and large poisonous snakes as pets.

Read on to see which pets are banned in your home state, as well as across the nation.

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