Sad news: the zoo’s Night Exhibit/Noctural House will be closing soon, probably during the first quarter of next year.
We understand how popular this indoor exhibit is to our millions of visitors and how many of you will be disappointed, for where else can you get up close with creatures of the night. However, budget constraints force us to operate with a smaller overall staff. After reviewing the entire zoo operation, we elected to close this exhibit. It is an older building that is expensive to operate, and we can move some of the animals to other exhibits in the zoo. Because this exhibit is our highest energy user, closing it will allow significant savings and help us to achieve our goals of sustainability and carbon reduction. Over the next few years, we will examine how to remodel and retrofit the building so that it can be operated efficiently.Copyright Upper Seattle LLC | May not be reproduced without permission
[Woodland Park Zoo]
Abort that campaign to foster a homeless vampire bat (how cool would that be??)–according to their Facebook page the animals that can’t be relocated within the zoo will move to other zoos.
Don’t let the name confuse you, the Night Exhibit operates during normal zoo hours. It’s quite sneaky, actually:
After the zoo closes, the light in this exhibit is gradually brought up to an artificial “day” lasting between 10-14 hours. During this “day” the nocturnal vampire bats sleep. They become active during the zoo visitor’s day as their “night” begins. The lights are gradually dimmed to simulate dusk, then darkness.
[Woodland Park Zoo]
The Day and Night Exhibits are particularly nice to visit on cold or rainy days as they’re kept over 70 degrees. They’re conveniently located next to the food pavilion. Find your way there most easily with the zoo iPhone app.
