Behind the Scenes at Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium

Here is yet another reason why our family membership to the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium was a great investment! They held their Members Night Out on Thursday, June 16 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Members were invited for a special evening that promised some special events and exhibits.

We had a very busy day and I was tempted to skip it. After all, we visit the zoo at least once a month, even through the winter. I figured it would be no big deal to miss this but I am so happy that we didn’t.

Immediately inside the front entrance, the Matison Avenue Band entertained the crowd in the Pacific Rim Plaza. The three piece jazz band played throughout the entire event and children of all ages had a great time dancing in the middle of the plaza to the catchy tunes.

All evening there were Animal Encounters around the zoo. Keepers bring out an animal for the kids (and adults) to meet up close and, depending on the animal, to touch. We saw a rat, Harold the dog, a tarantula, horned owl, gopher snake, and an African pygmy hedgehog. I’m sure there were others but those were the ones we came across.

Our first visit was to the Kid’s Zone for the Goat Grooming at Contact Junction. Children were allowed into the goat enclosure where they could mingle with 5 extremely mellow and well fed goats. There were a variety of brushes to choose from and the goats seemed to enjoy the experience as much as the children did.

Next, we were off to the Wild Wonders Outdoor Theater. Small groups were taken behind the stage to see the training area where they keep the animals that appear in the show. We were shown a variety of food preparations for the animals living in that section while a keeper explained what each one was fed. The visit ended with the children being allowed to feed a large worm to an aardvark.

We made a brief stop by the penguin enclosure where there was a talk on the behavior and care of the Magellanic Penguins residing there. We skipped both the Budgie Buddies exhibit and camel rides this time and made our way to a line forming at the Asian Forest Sanctuary.

This line lead into a tour of the area behind the Asian Forest Sanctuary. First was an office where the keepers stay on top of the mountains of paperwork their job entails. But all eyes were focused on a small television screen showing footage of the two adorable Clouded Leopard cubs born at the zoo just days before.

The line then snaked through large enclosures where some of the animals live when not on display. A Malayan tapir, several Lowland anoa, an adorable river otter and a large sleepy porcupine rounded out the tour.

We decided to swing by the tiger exhibit to check on our favorite Sumatran tiger cubs, Mali and Bima, who just celebrated their first birthday on May 25. We were concerned that they were feeling upstaged by the arrival of the new Clouded Leopard twins but they seemed to be having a fine time playing with plastic toys and harassing their long suffering mother, Jaya.

With all well with the tigers, we hustled to the opposite end of the zoo and walked through Rocky Shores, home to the walruses, harbor seals, puffins and sea otters. We picked up a chocolate swirl ice cream cone at the nearby snack bar and proceeded to the polar bears.

Normally one of my favorite animals to watch, we caught them at nap time. With huge snoozing bears providing little entertainment, we figured that we needed to make quick work of the rest of the zoo as closing time was fast approaching. 

We breezed through the Red Wolf Woods on the way to our final stop at the Aquariums. Although we missed watching the divers in the shark tank, one of the divers was walking through the exhibit with his gear and gamely stopped to answer any questions.

With all of our previous visits to the zoo, we were surprised at the number of novel exhibits and tours at this event. It was so much fun to see behind the scenes and learn more about what it takes to run a facility like this. I hope they offer more events like this in the future.

Upcoming Event:  More than 170 Clouded Leopard 5-inch ceramic paw prints are currently hidden at Tacoma area parks and popular public spots (some in Gig Harbor!) as part of the Great Community Great Zoo festival on Saturday, June 18 and Sunday, June 19. Paw prints can be redeemed for free admission at the zoo for the Festival this weekend.  Details at http://www.pdza.org/calendar.php?eid=221.