Dress up at the zoo on Halloween Eve and Halloween

Festivities include treats for everyone – even the animals

Brooklyn, N.Y.: The Wildlife Conservation Society’s Prospect Park Zoo is hosting its annual Boo at the Zoo, a family-friendly Halloween extravaganza, all day Saturday, Oct. 30 and Sunday, Oct. 31. Festivities include costumes, arts and crafts, and treats for the animals.
 
The baboon troop’s two-month old infants, Jabari and Azizi, will have their first chance to trick-or-treat as pumpkins will be scattered throughout their exhibit.  
 
No Halloween celebration is complete without bats. The zoo’s new nocturnal exhibit provides the perfect setting for a dark and creepy look into the world of these fascinating flying creatures of the night.

WCS Prospect Park Zoo’s Boo at the Zoo line-up of activities for both Halloween Eve and Halloween include:  

Bat arts and crafts – Zoo-goers can create Halloween decorations to take home at the art station.

Spook-tacular Discovery Center – This is an interactive education area where children can discover wildlife and conservation through books, crafts, and a variety of scientific tools.

Haunted Attractions – From noon to 4 p.m., visit the spooky barn, see creepy creatures throughout the zoo, and learn about bats in the nocturnal area.

Keeper Chats – Learn more about the animals from the people who take care of them.
11 a.m. – Great horned owl (at exhibit)
1 p.m. – Pumpkins and treats for the baboons (at the baboon exhibit)
1:45 p.m. – Live animal encounter (at the Barn Stage)
3 p.m.– Nocturnal animals (in the Animal Lifestyles Building)
 
Costume Parade – 3:45 p.m.

Face Painting –
Be a tamarin monkey or a Pallas cat for Halloween this year.  Zoo-goers can get in the spirit of the day with colorful face painting from 12:30-3 p.m.

Wildlife Witch Shows
– See a magical, educational play about creepy creatures and a witch’s potion.  Live animals will be in the show and the audience will get to touch one. 12:30, 1:30, 2:00, 3:15, 3:45, and 4:30 p.m. at the Animals in our Lives Theater.

If one weekend of Boo at the Zoo isn’t spooky enough, WCS’s Bronx and Queens Zoos also hold Boo at the Zoo, and the New York Aquarium will hosts its annual Halloween Ascarium events on select weekends throughout October. Dates and details are available on each facility’s website:
www.centralparkzoo.com, www.bronxzoo.com, www.prospectparkzoo.com, www.queenszoo.com, www.nyaquarium.com
 
Boo at the Zoo and Ascarium at the New York Aquarium and Bronx Zoo are presented by Pepsi.

CONTACT:    
Sophie Bass: 212-439-6527; sbass@wcs.org
Max Pulsinelli: 718-220-5182; mpulsinelli@wcs.org
Steve Fairchild: 718-220-5189; sfairchild@wcs.org


Prospect Park Zoo
– $8.00 for adults, $6 for seniors 65 and older, $5 for kids 3-12, free for children under 3. Zoo hours are 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. weekdays, and to 5:30 P.M. on weekends and holidays, April through October. The Prospect Park Zoo is located at 450 Flatbush Avenue in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. For further information, call 718-399-7339 or visit www.prospectparkzoo.com
The Wildlife Conservation Society saves wildlife and wild places worldwide. We do so through science, global conservation, education and the management of the world's largest system of urban wildlife parks, led by the flagship Bronx Zoo. Together these activities change attitudes towards nature and help people imagine wildlife and humans living in harmony. WCS is committed to this mission because it is essential to the integrity of life on Earth.

Special Note to the Media
: If you would like to guide your readers or viewers to a web link where they can make donations in support of helping save wildlife and wild places, please direct them to www.wcs.org/donation.