LIVE: Almost Skunked on the Big Skunk Reveal

Or, why some people in show biz say you should never work with children or animals but we say "bring it on, baby!"

FARGO — Zoo director Sally Mulvena calls it “a Jack Hanna moment.”

Our morning show folks say it’s a lot like “Wild Kingdom does the news.”

Whatever you call it, it’s the perfect example of how you should expect an animal-led interaction will not necessarily go the way the human animals planned.

The Red River Zoo is introducing two brand-new baby skunks as part of their animal ambassador program.

The skunks are so sought-after, the zoo had to get on a waiting list for them.

And they were set to make their first-ever public appearance debuting in their new roles in this live segment on the Morning Show.

They were… until Flower, the one of the pair who’s the most outgoing, shot out of the pet carrier and right through a small opening in the set, just as Mulvena and Emily were about to go live.

Flower wandered around backstage while the skunk’s education specialist tried to corral her back into grabbing distance, giving us four minutes worth of live skunk reporting that was unfortunately skunkless.

Animal-led interaction means animals are never forced to behave in ways they don’t want to, Mulvena says, because that can scare the animal and sour them on human interaction.

That can make it more dangerous for both the animal and the humans they encounter.

So Flower’s last-minute off-camera adventure is actually things (sort of) proceeding to plan.

To find out more about the zoo and all the other great adventures you can have there, check out the link:

https://www.redriverzoo.org/meet-the-animals/