Zoo Fans Say Farewell To Their Animal Friends
It started like a trip to the farm and ended like a safari.
Felt like an Antarctic expedition the whole time.
Despite the wind and freezing weather, Walk in the Wild’s annual “Zoo Lites” event drew about 50 people Saturday night, a typical turn-out for the exhibit. Parents and kids walked the paths, checking out the glowing animal-shaped decorations and some real critters, too.
This weekend marks the end, not only of Zoo Lites, but all of Walk in the Wild. After many financial woes, the zoo will close for good. Many of the animals will travel to a new zoo planned to open at Silverwood Theme Park in 1997.
As a last hurrah, folks can take in the lights for free from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
The Glendenning family didn’t want to wait. Laura and her two tykes, 6-year-old Jenny and 3-year-old Doug, live not too far from the zoo and went often in the summer. This time neighbor Brandi Hill, 5, was in tow.
They charged out along the frosty but paved route, Mom straggling behind.
“What’s that, Mom?” the two Glendennings piped up.
“That’s where Quincy the pot-bellied pig is.”
The pig was inside, though. Next.
From beneath her purple knit cap, Brandi spied her first animal. “Hi goaty!” she yelped.
The family and friend followed the lights strung on each side of the path. They stopped. Their gaze was interrupted by much brighter lights.
“What’s this? Anyone know?” Mom asked, pointing to a twodimensional electric ostrich. The kids were more excited by the animated kangaroo light display, though - a baby hopped toward its mother and into her pouch.
“Kangaroos go boing, Boing, BOING!” Brandi hollered. Yeah, but they weren’t real.
The bobcat was.
Jenny, up until now the quietest, let loose. “There’s a bobcat!” the blond girl exclaimed, her misty breath clouding the cat’s face.
It stared at her, then decided she was no big deal - plenty of kids go through this place, after all. “Raaaarrrrrr!” Jenny yelled in the big kitty’s face.
The cat didn’t roar, but suddenly wore a “Hey, you watch yourself” scowl, its big eyes narrowing.
“He’s mad,” Brandi said.
Outta here, then. “Bye-bye bobcat,” said Doug, waving behind him as the troop continued.
They approached the lemur exhibit. One of the lemurs was inside a warm, lighted shed. The other was in an attached cage, braving the winter air.
Remember, these things are native to Africa. Was this primate nuts, or what? Loony or not, all the better for Doug. “A monkey! Lift me up!”
The bear cage was next. Doug thought he saw one in a reflection, but Mom said it wasn’t so. “No, that’s just water.”
They weren’t hibernating, though. Zoo staff said Alaskan brown bears don’t take an annual snooze.
Plenty of Christmasy electric stuff came next: a glowing parrot, a huge giraffe and an animated elephant with a swinging trunk.
There was a sled with Santa, and a giant blinking peacock. (It looked alarmingly like that new NBC-goes-Vegas logo visible in back of the Q6 newsroom).
What a hike. Twenty minutes and about 20 glowing exhibits later, the warm gift shop was a welcome sight.
“You guys have fun?” said zoo employee Lori Dick.
The kids said yeah, they did. Now they wanted hot cocoa - everyone except Doug, that is. Maybe inspired by that crazy lemur, he asked for, but didn’t get, ice cream.
The kids wanted POGs, too the zoo had a whole set with pictures of endangered species on them. The kids wanted dinosaurs, though.
Zoo volunteer Linda Ricketts laughed. “They’re a little past endangered,” she said.
This wasn’t Jurassic Park, after all. And let’s be fair - Walk in the Wild had its problems, but no one there was ever eaten by a Tyrannosaurus rex.
, DataTimes MEMO: Valley Snapshots is a regular Valley Voice feature that visits gatherings in the Valley. If you know of a good subject for this column, please call reporter Ward Sanderson at 927-2154.