Sesame Street’s new female Afghan puppet

There’s a new face on Sesame Street — a sassy Afghan puppet girl called Zari and she has an important message for the country’s little girls.

Zari, whose name means “shimmering”, has made her television debut in Afghanistan, on a local production of Sesame Street called Baghch-e-Simsim.

“Zari is female because we thought it was really important to emphasise the fact that a little girl could do as much as everybody else. So that’s why a girl was a key factor in promoting empowerment and girls’ education in Afghanistan,” programme manager Clemence Quint told.

The six-year-old puppet will wear a traditional headscarf. Her costumes will also incorporate fabrics and designs from all of Afghanistan’s ethnic groups. Zari is brought to life by Afghan puppeteer Mansoora Shirzad. Two production houses worked together with Afghanistan’s education ministry to develop the special Muppet.

‘Tiger Whisperer’ dead at Florida zoo

Stacey Konwiser, 38, suffered a ‘severe bite’ wound while inside the big cat’s habitat at Palm Beach Zoo in April in Florida, say the zoo officials. She was performing basic tasks with the male Malayan tiger at the time, said zoo spokeswoman Naki Carter.

“This is the first death at the hands of an animal in the history of the Palm Beach Zoo,” she told the Palm Beach Post. The tiger was not on exhibit at the time of the attack and guests were never in danger, Ms Carter added. Ms Konwiser was taken to St Mary’s Medical Centre, where she died.

Ms Carter said Ms Konwiser was known as ‘the tiger whisperer’ because of how well she handled the attraction’s four Malayan tigers. The zoo will remain closed until further notice.

Published in Dawn, Young World, May 7th, 2015