BIRMINGHAM, AL (WBRC)- An area of Birmingham devoted to remembering the city's role in the civil rights movement is being recognized this year as Alabama's 2012 tourist attraction of the year.

The Alabama Department of Tourism named the Birmingham Civil Right District as the 2012 attraction of the year. The district includes 16th Street Baptist Church, Kelly Ingram Park and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. The department says the Civil Rights District served as a "ground zero" during the 1963 civil rights campaign.

The tourism department says Kelly Ingram Park was a common gathering spot for civil rights demonstrators in the early 1960s. Statues in the park commemorate a time when police officers turned fire hoses and police dogs on civil rights marchers, including children.

Another famous civil rights landmark, Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, was the site of a 1963 bombing set off by Ku Klux Klan members that killed four young girls.

The Shelby Humane Society has a potentially record-breaking goal for this weekend: to try and adopt at least 100 animals in three days starting May 4.

The Tail-a-Dega: A Super Adoption Event is the largest pet adoption drive in the county's history and will take place at the Alabaster PetSmart  May 4 from 2-8 p.m., May 5 from 10 a.m.-6 p.m., and May 6 from 11a.m.-5 p.m.

All pets adopted from Shelby Humane Society come with 30 days of pet insurance, have received a medical check up, and have been spayed or neutered, microchipped, vaccinated and de-wormed.

For more information on the Shelby Humane Society, please visit www.shelbyhumane.org.

Congratulations to Evan Lucia, a five-year-old student at God's House Kindergarten in Vestavia, who won the honor of naming the Birmingham Zoo's newest baby orangutan! Evan chose the winning name "Nairi" because he "liked the sound of the name and its Indonesian meaning -- 'kind one'," according to a press release from the Birmingham Zoo.

Nairi, a female orangutan, was born Dec. 13, 2011 by C-section. As part of his prize for naming the orangutan, Evan received an Adopt-an-Animal packet for Nairi, a tour of the Animal Nutrition Center, a Zoo Fun Pack, a photo opportunity at the zoo and more.

The orangutan naming contest lasted from March 1 until March 25. Each submission was made with a minimal donation, and through the contest the zoo raised almost $1,000. Those proceeds will go to the organization Orangutan Outreach, which aims to protect orangutans in their native habitat while providing care for orphaned orangutans.