Johannesburg Zoo celebrates Halloween

Johannesburg Zoo will celebrate Halloween on the 31 October 2009. The zoo will open late afternoon at 17h00 and close at 20h00 with a feast of activities. The zoo’s Celts (halloween marshals), dressed in traditional halloween costumes will be at the entrance to usher in visitors.

Visitors will be guided to observe a mock operation on the Gorilla platform theatre, where zoo’s veterinary crew will be hard at work conducting gruesome procedures and the proof will be a skeleton stashed on a wheel chair, wheeled in and out of the theatre. Visitors will be able to see images of previous x-rays on a light box. The mock theatre plays on tyrpanophobia (fear of medical procedure).

Visitors will proceed to a vampire cave in the Ape house, where smokes, strange lights , scary sound effects and water shooting will characterise the cave. The cave will be pitch black, increasing the suspense of what you may encounter in the scary dark of night. You will also be touched by strange crawlies, you could even meet a vampire. Children under the age of 9 are not allowed to visit the cave. Should you survive the passage, you will then meet the zoo ferries : potty ferries, dancing hippo and dancing giraffe playing in a ferry garden.

Once the ferries have comforted you, the journey proceed to a devil snake pit, where you can meetthe entire devil family, who will do a live snake demonstration. Here visitors can look, feel and touch our scaly pretty creatures.

Ghost house , the zoo’ haunted place will be the next stop,where visitors will encounter some of the zoo’s ghosts. The old carnivore enclosure, once used to house to zoo’s beast will enchant visitors when they walk though, to get a sense of how our beasts enjoyed their stay in the past, however, to get permission, one will have eat sour scorpions, spiders, worms , etc all that is not meant for human consumption. Visitors will then proceed to the snake house to spend time with more snakes and, this time West African Snakes. The journey will then proceed through a fun area that has jumping castles and animal characters. The last stop will be at the zoo’s restaurant, Café Fino, which will be decorated and staff dressed for halloween. This is where costume competition will take place.

Zoo wild lights will have been be switched-on to sparkle some places, there will be trick and treating with lots of suprises. Visitors can bring a picnic basket to make this really a fun filled family event. Café Fino will also be selling meals. The event caters for all ages and normal entrance fees apply (Adults R41, Children under 12 and pensioners R23).

Prepared and issued by Letta Madlala, Brand & Communications Manager, Johannesburg Zoo, on behalf of the Johannesburg Zoo, 26 October 2009.
 

 

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