Home / December

A little reason to celebrate

Visit the Zoo Day

Animal · December 27

A day for visiting a zoo, watching the animals up close and learning how keepers care for creatures from around the world.

Visit the Zoo Day falls on Sunday, December 27, 2026. That is 61 days away.

A zoo is a place where you can stand a few feet from a giraffe and watch it eat leaves off a branch higher than most rooftops. Visit the Zoo Day is an invitation to go and do exactly that.

Most zoos are laid out as a loop or a set of trails, with animals grouped by region or habitat. You might pass flamingos wading in shallow water, then turn a corner into a warm reptile house, then end up watching otters slide around their pool. Many animals are most active in the morning, when the air is cooler and keepers are making their rounds. In the afternoon, the big cats often look like they have no plans at all.

Modern zoos do more than display animals. Keepers prepare diets, train animals for health checks and add enrichment, such as puzzle feeders or new scents, to keep them curious and busy. Many zoos also take part in breeding programs for threatened species and run education programs for visitors.

A good visit usually involves slowing down. Picking a few exhibits and staying long enough to see behavior, like a gorilla sorting through its food or a tortoise making its unhurried way across a yard, often beats rushing past every sign. Keeper talks and posted feeding times are a reliable way to catch animals at their liveliest.

If a trip is not possible, many zoos share live animal cameras online, where you can watch penguins or elephants go about an ordinary afternoon.

Ways to celebrate

• Visit a local zoo early in the day when animals are more active.
• Attend a keeper talk or scheduled feeding demonstration.
• Watch one animal for ten minutes and note what it does.
• Check a zoo's live animal camera online.
• Follow posted rules and avoid tapping on glass or feeding animals.

Dates

All national days on December 27

Also on December 27

• National Fruitcake Day
• Make Cut-Out Snowflakes Day

Categories: Animal days