The Budapest Zoo & Botanical Garden will prepare special programmes including animal demonstrations and educational talks for the 15th Night of Zoos, with 20 programme areas, animal experiences, feeding sessions, stage performances, a fairground zone and a planetarium awaiting visitors on Friday evening, 28 August.
The event will run from 7pm until midnight, with programmes continuing until 11pm, the zoo said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Night of Zoos has been held at several Hungarian zoos and wildlife parks on the final Friday evening of summer since 2012. Budapest Zoo has participated in the initiative from the beginning.
The zoo will operate normally during the day before closing and reopening at 7pm for the evening event. Visitors will be able to remain on the premises until midnight.
The special evening programme will include some areas that are not normally available in the same format. However, some animals do not respond well to changes in their usual schedule. Great apes, for example, will not be on display during the event.
The Palm House, Komodo dragon enclosure, Xántus János House, Pákásztanya, Poison House, Magic Mountain, Elephant House, Shark School, Urban Oasis in the Biodome, the Biodome foyer, Japanese Garden and Farm will all be open.
This year’s educational programmes will focus mainly on misconceptions about animals, the animal world and zoos.
Regular activities will include light projections, interactive gardening demonstrations, arts and crafts, face painting and several virtual-reality experiences. Astronomy programmes and planetarium screenings will also be available, while the fairground zone will operate, including the almost 120-year-old Schäftner carousel.
The zoo’s feed kitchen will be moved to the waterfowl lake, allowing visitors to see what the animals are fed. Another programme will explore the world of insects, while one station will explain the difference between a hedgehog and a porcupine.
Animal programmes will include feeding sessions with tigers, lions and giant otters, elephant training, a snake encounter, a diving demonstration among the sharks at the Shark School and a camel show. The Palm House will also feature two artificial tropical rainstorms.
Stage programmes will be held at two locations, including a fire-juggling performance and presentations on nature photography and filming veterinary procedures. A total of 29 educational presentations with visual material will be held at five locations. Topics will include dinosaurs, popular beliefs about the animal world, misconceptions about spiders, animal venom, horses, camels, animals portrayed in Hollywood films and films shot in the Biodome.
There will also be an astronomy presentation and a quiz.
Details of the full programme are available on the zoo’s website. Tickets can be purchased online or at the venue, with ticket offices remaining open until 9:30pm.
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