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SF Zoo Names Rhino After 49ers' Alex Boone

Boone The Rhino
Boone The Rhino (credit: Bay City News)

 

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - San Francisco 49ers lineman Alex Boone will join San Francisco Zoo patrons on Friday to celebrate the naming of a 4-year-old black rhino after him.

San Francisco 49ers' Alex Boone
San Francisco 49ers' Alex Boone (credit: Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

Boone became heavily involved in the zoo in the fall of 2012 and has since created the Alex Boone Animal Education Project to bring local at-risk youth to the zoo, officials at the zoo said.

BooneAndRhino06.12.13
Boone & Rhino Boone (credit: Bay City News)

To honor him for his efforts, the rhino has been named "Boone."

"There are very few black rhinos left on this planet, so to have one named after me is truly an honor," Boone said in a statement.

There will be a public event Friday afternoon at the Nature Exploration Meadow in which the 49ers offensive lineman will feed the rhino and unveil a plaque.

The 49ers' Gold Rush cheerleaders and the team's mascot Sourdough Sam will also be in attendance.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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