Featured Image Credit: Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium
By Kira Krall
Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium has once again brought Zoo Lights to the Tacoma, Washington area. 600,000 lights come together to create spectacular scenes throughout the grounds. You can walk along a 30-foot wide marine landscape, dance next to a giant rock crab, and wander through arctic tundra, complete with polar bears!
While most of the zoo animals will be asleep with visions of sugarplums in their heads, the Aquarium and Kid’s Zone will be up and running. Point Defiance’s Kid Zone gets you an up close look at lemurs, merkats, reptiles, and even piranha. Camel rides are also available to round out your Zoo Lights animal experience. The aquarium features native wildlife including five species of shark and a giant octopus.
If you want a chance to see leopards, otters, and polar bears, (oh my!) You can purchase a combo ticket that’s good for both daytime admission to the zoo and aquarium and Zoo Lights once the sun goes down.
Zoo Lights is one of the education and conservation campaigns that Point Defiance runs during the holiday season. They once again partnered with the Girl Scouts of Western Washington to bring holiday light recycling to the area. The public can drop their broken or unwanted holiday lights at any one of 13 drop spots. All proceeds from the Point Defiance program will go toward walrus conservation.
Point Defiance is also hosting a Wreath-Cycled Challenge. Area residents can make their own holiday wreath out of recycled materials, drop their wreath off, and upload a photo to the website. If it gets enough public votes, individuals can win 4 passes to Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium.
Watch their promo video below and check aquariums and zoos in your area for similar events!