Georgia private zoo closes; home of Groundhog Day forecaster
LILBURN, Ga. (AP) — The private zoo that's home to Georgia's four-legged Groundhog Day forecaster has closed. The state Department of Natural Resources tells news outlets it will help find new homes for wildlife including the groundhog called General Beauregard Lee.
DNR officials say the Yellow River Game Ranch's owner told them Wednesday that he'd closed the facility in Lilburn, 17 miles (28 kilometers) northeast of Atlanta.
The state agency did not shut the ranch down, and will begin working after Jan. 1 on what to do with wild animals, spokesman Mark McKinnon told news outlets. Yellow River officials will have to decide what to do with cows, goats and other farm animals, he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution .