Text message prank ties up zoo's phone lines

By KEVIN SIEFF

The Brownsville Herad

BROWNSVILLE - Employees at the Gladys Porter Zoo are accustomed to a steady stream of phone calls. But the 1,700 calls they received on Tuesday made it clear that something was unusual.

On Tuesday afternoon, cell phone users all over the state of Texas began receiving text messages - often from friends and relatives - demanding that they call (956) 546-7187, the Gladys Porter Zoo's main line. Some of the texts implied that urgent matters hinged on the call.

"Call now, someone is looking for you," one read.

"Call now and we will settle this," another message said.

In April, a zoo in Dublin, Ireland received 100,000 such calls, all of which were prompted by prank text messages.

In early May, a similar text message prank overwhelmed the phone lines of the Houston Zoo. Both Houston and Brownsville zoos contacted the FBI to investigate the problem.

Rio Grande Valley FBI spokesperson Jorge Cisneros said the department would be looking into the malicious texting campaign. A police report has also been filed.

"At least for the foreseeable future, people will have to go through the automated answering machine," said Cynthia Galvan, a spokeswoman for the Gladys Porter Zoo. "School teachers are trying to set up trips, but they can't get through."

Galvan advises anyone who receives one of the prank texts to email the zoo at text@gpz.org with details about the messages.

"We thought we'd give it a day and it would clear up," she said, "but the calls keep coming in."