Zoo May Let Visitors See Animals’ Night Moves

Visitors to the San Diego Zoo who are dismayed by tired tigers and lethargic lizards may soon be able to see these and other nocturnal inhabitants of the park in a more active state.

“Nighttime Zoo” is what park officials are calling preliminary plans to extend the park’s hours to allow visitors to view animals that usually sleep during the day.

“It’s a completely different world,” zoo spokesman Jeff Jouett said. “At night, there is a lot more climbing, running and moving around. . . . The animals are more active. The smells are more accentuated. Just being here, there is a very eerie, exciting feeling to it.”

Foxes, large cats, reptiles and amphibians are the creatures that zoo officials say would be main attractions after dark. Of the 4,000 animals and 800 species in the park, about half are nocturnal, Jouett said.

The zoo now closes at 4 p.m., but visitors can stay on the grounds until 5. During the trial period, the zoo would stay open four or five hours longer. If the zoo’s board of trustees approves final plans, “Nighttime Zoo” could begin as early as spring, Jouett said.

To transform the park so that it would would be safe for both guests and its residents, a small army of curators, educators, architects and grounds workers are evaluating necessary modifications, Jouett said, including lighting that would not interfere with the animals’ needs. The project cost is unknown at this time, zoo officials said.

One exhibit already suited for after-dark viewing is the reptile house, zoo general manager Art Risser said. Although it is dark in the cavernous enclosure, daytime visitors who peer through the windows see sleeping snakes. But, at night in their prime hours, the snakes can be seen slithering over rocks and branches.

The new hours would also enhance Gorilla Tropics, which features the sounds of a rain forest, with the addition of nighttime hoots and growls from its inhabitants.

In conjunction with extended hours, the zoo is planning to open a restaurant called Albert’s. Albert, a male silverback gorilla, was one of the zoo’s most popular animals from the early 1960s until his death in 1978, Jouett said.

“Albert’s should rival any good restaurant in town,” Jouett said. It would be be built like a treehouse on a hill behind Gorilla Tropics.

When asked if extended hours might keep animals from getting their rest, Jouett said: “Don’t worry. They (the nocturnal animals) are up anyway.”