Zoo Atlanta’s Members Only Night was an amazing experience that allowed us to have a glimpse of what the Zoo has in store after hours. We have purchased Family Membership to the Zoo, for years. I can’t even express how valuable our membership has been. In addition to visiting the zoo, without incurring extra costs, whenever we want; we enjoy several other perks that Zoo Atlanta offers it’s members. One of those is Members Only Night.
Members Only Night begins when the Zoo would normally close for the day. So, we arrived right around that time. We were given an itinerary to help us navigate the special event. There were all sorts of feedings happening and some other activities for the kids. There were a lot of members taking advantage of the night, so I thought our best bet would be to take a look at the itinerary and decide which activities to do. The boys were not really interested in all of the wild activities going on, because they wanted to see the feedings. But, there were stilt walkers and music and costumed entertainers all over the place.
The itinerary laid out our plan and we decided to watch the Elephants, the young Komodo Dragon, and the Tigers at feeding time. The Elephants were up first.. and their “happy dancing,” set the tone for the rest of the evening. It was mesmerizing to watch one of the elephants swaying back and forth as it enjoyed the evening. It was almost like the elephant was dancing to some tune that only it could hear. I thought, “That could be possible, because elephants can make sounds that human ears cannot hear.” Here’s a precious video of the dancing elephant.
The next event, that we saw, was the feeding of the young Komodo Dragons. They feed these guys a rat or mouse. But, there’s no chasing or hunting. The keeper/feeder simply hands the mouse to the Komodo Dragon with tongs, or lays it down for the animal to find. I didn’t video the Komodo Dragon feeding, because it’s dark in the reptile house and it was sort of crowded at the Komodo Dragon exhibit. The feedings were very popular and each one was crowded. I thought that might be the case, that’s why I used the itinerary to plan our way through the events so we could get to each one before there was a big crowd.
The last feeding we watched was the Tiger feeding. It was awesome. We got there plenty early and had a front row viewing, through the glass. The tigers must have known it was feeding time, because they continuously went over to a gate and jumped and pushed on it. Later, that is where the food was entered into their exhibit. We watched them for a while, before feeding. They were hyped up! I have never seen the tigers, at Zoo Atlanta, so active. They were playing with each other, running around the pen, and having a good time. I did get some video of these guys!
Anybody in the Metro Atlanta Area should invest in a membership to the Zoo. They plan many events that are free or discounted for their members, provide discounts to other attractions and museums around the city and kids love the Zoo! It is worth taking full advantage of a Zoo Membership. Homeschoolers get a $10 discount, with their DOI. Click here to learn more about the cost & benefits of a Zoo Atlanta Membership!