Meter-Made Crusade

Zoos find a two-bit way to save tropical rain forests

Midway between the lair of the Bengal tigers and the stamping ground of the African elephants at the San Francisco Zoo is an attraction more commonly seen along city sidewalks: a parking meter. But drop a quarter in and you get a lot more than 30 minutes of parking time. When a donor turns the handle of the modified meter, a mechanical red-throated hummingbird flies across a jungle scene, signaling that the donation will be used to save a small plot of tropical rain forest.

The Conservation Meter was the brainchild of zookeeper Norman Gershenz, who came up with the notion...

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