What's New > Top 10 Must-Zoo Activities

Top 10 Must-Zoo Activities
Summer 2010

We're counting down the top ten things to do at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo! We'll be adding one item per week to our countdown. Some are animal-related and some are event-related but all are CAN'T-MISS opportunities, so check back every week and see what you Must Zoo!

Week of August 15: See and feel the 18-inch purple prehensile tongue of a giraffe.

The Zoo introduces public giraffe feedings on the Giraffe Deck this summer. The Zoo's Masai giraffe herd is comprised of seven females and one male -- of all different ages... AND heights.

At 2 p.m. daily, you'll have an opportunity to purchase feed for the giraffes and hand-feed them. The most striking thing you will notice is their long purple tongue as it reaches to take food directly from your hand. It's a definite "Must Zoo" this summer.

Week of August 8: Go on an African safari.

Meet animals, take night hikes and join a story circle when you stay overnight at Rising Waters Safari Camp in African Savanna.

Rising Waters Safari Camp is an African-themed overnight Zoo adventure. Campers at Rising Waters stay in the Zoo's African Savanna for an authentic safari experience. The program combines elements of African culture, such as the making of tribal masks and a story circle, with conservation-oriented activities and a visit with some of the Zoo's smaller African animals. Night hikes, snacks, and fun (and free Zoo admission following the program!) make Rising Waters a memorable experience for kids of all ages.

Week of August 1: Demonstrate your finesse in riding a camel.

Like last week, this week's Must Zoo is in Australian Adventure. Take a ride way up high on a dromedary camel. It's not as easy as it looks.

Every year, the dromedary (one hump) camels return the the Zoo's Australian Adventure for summer camel rides. Riding a camel is one of our favorite summer adventures. You'll be surprised at how high off the ground you are on a camel's back. You'll also be surprised at how many people a camel can carry. But hang on tight because it can be a little bumpy the first time.

Week of July 25: Get up close and personal with lorikeets.

Lorikeet Aviary in Australian Adventure is a magical place in the summer full of free-flying, brightly colored and constantly chattering lorikeets.

Lorikeets' tongues are specially adapted for the extraction of nectar from flowers. Here at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, the lorkeets extract nectar from cups that are handheld by Zoo visitors! (Cups of nectar can be purchased for $1 on the way into the aviary). Children of all ages will delight in getting up close to the birds -- all it takes is a steady hand.

Week of July 19: It's National Zoo Keeper Week! Watch the Zoo's Animal Keepers train seals and sea lions.

The live training demonstration takes place daily at 3 p.m. at the seal and sea lion pool in Northern Trek during the summer. Watch and learn how keepers train for cooperative behaviors that allow the Zoo to take better care of its animals. At the end of the training session, visitors will know everything from how to tell the difference between seals and sea lions to how they might approach training their own pets to what they can do to help marine mammals in the wild.

Visitors will meet several harbor seals and three California sea lions, including the Zoo's newest marine mammals, one-year-old rescued sea lions Annabelle and Buzz.

July 17: Experience the wild sensation of dozens of ladybugs in your hands at ZooBlooms.

Get in on the action at ZooBlooms on July 17 as the Zoo's horticulture staff enlists your help with their annual release of ladybugs into the Zoo's gardens to act as a natural pesticide. Over the years, we've noticed kids of all ages delight at the feeling of dozens of ladybugs in their hands, if only for a brief moment, before sending them off on their very special mission to keep the Zoo's gardens beautiful and pest-free.

But that's not all that happens at ZooBlooms. We've got many more activities for horticulture fans of all ages: take a Zoo tram tour of the gardens, attend a seminar from one of our gardening experts, learn composting from the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District, create leaf etchings and seed bracelets in our Family Activity Center and make a paper pot out of a phonebook page to plant it in your garden courtesy of AT&T Real Yellow Pages. And bring your old phonebooks that day because we'll make it easy for you to recycle them at the Zoo's Main Gate. Information and a schedule of activities can be found on the ZooBlooms event page.

Week of July 5: Watch a five-acre world-class elephant exhibit take shape before your eyes.

Get the very latest construction updates in a daily talk at noon called "Have You Herd?" at the African Elephant Crossing construction zone. You'll learn about the Zoo's world-class elephant habitat and conservation center being constructed at the site of its 1950s-era Pachyderm Building and quadrupling the amount of indoor and outdoor space dedicated to these majestic animals. Expected to open in 2011, the state-of-the-art exhibit is the Zoo's largest capital project since The RainForest opened in 1992.

Spread over five acres of lightly wooded grasslands, African Elephant Crossing will feature two large yards for roaming, ponds for swimming, expanded sleeping quarters and a heated outdoor range. The naturalistic habitat will be capable of housing up to 10 elephants at a time, including at least one bull and eventually calves. African Elephant Crossing also will house meerkats, naked mole rats, African rock pythons and a spectacular collection of colorful birds.

Week of June 28: Watch a Butterfly Hatch.

The viewing box at FLUTTER! is one of the Zoo's hidden treasures. Exquisite tropical butterflies continuously emerge from beautiful chrysalises in the Public Greenhouse at Waterfowl Lake. Chrysalises are flown in weekly and visitors will be able to learn about the metamorphosis process.

FLUTTER! allows you to walk among dozens of free-flying butterflies from around the world. Large and brightly colored, the exotic assortment of species includes the blue morpho, crimson patch and pink cattle heart butterflies just to name a few.

Week of June 21: Challenge your Friends to a "Dung Duel"!

The Zoo's special summer exhibit "The Scoop on Poop" presents visitors with several challenges. There's "Dung Beetle Derby," where two challengers use their hands to roll makeshift dung balls while racing their dung beetles to the finish line without dropping their dung balls. Got it? If you think it's easy, you thought wrong. There's a scale you can stand on to find out how long it takes an elephant to poop your body weight. Challenge your friends to guess how long it takes - or better yet, see which one of you takes the longest. And then there's the outhouse photo opportunity. Who can make the funniest face? We challenge YOU. Take photos of your friends and share them with us on Twitter or Facebook.

June 20: Watch us Crush Cans with a Steamroller on Father's Day!

The Zoo is sponsoring a "Cans for Conservation" drive on Father's Day, June 20, with all proceeds supporting the International Rhino Foundation. Recycle your cans with us and help rhinos! And remember, Dads get free admission on Father's Day, and we have some special activities that day just for them.

Father's Day is ALSO the second annual "Hard Hat Day at the Zoo!" To celebrate, we're giving out hard hats to the first 2,000 kids, and we're putting heavy machinery on exhibit. And to top it off, we're letting everyone watch as we crush your donated cans with a mini steamroller (the more cans, the more steamrolling!) Can Dad afford to miss this? We don't think so. It's a definite must-do, i.e., MUST-ZOO, this summer.