Lions, humans, bears, oh my!

SURROUNDED by sleeping bags, pillows, suitcases and backpacks, the 60 or so campers hanging around outside the L.A. Zoo were as much of a curiosity as the animals inside. It was Saturday evening. The gates had just closed. And the sun was on its way toward setting.

Yet there we were -- a bunch of human adults and our spawn, waiting to get in and see the animals after hours as part of a Wild Wonder Slumber. Each summer for the last five years, the zoo has hosted these overnight, inner-city safaris, giving families the chance to enjoy the critters without the usual jockeying for sidewalk space or slathering of sunscreen. And each summer, the program also sells out, usually within days of the announcement of the season’s schedule in its Zooscape newsletter.

It’s for good reason that the nights sell out so quickly. It isn’t just the exclusive animal viewing or no-muss-no-fuss, close-at-hand camping that’s a draw. There is something oddly appealing about sleeping somewhere that’s ordinarily off-limits, especially when you’re so well cared for.

On a recent Saturday evening, my 2-year-old and I tagged along for the well-choreographed 15-hour adventure. Checked in by a camp counselor and piled on a tram, we zipped past the stream of ogling, exiting zoogoers for a bumpy, behind-the-scenes ride up to “camp” -- actually the Neil Papiano Play Park, a picnic area and playground within spitting distance of the warty pigs and Japanese serows. The location couldn’t have been more perfect. As we parents organized our gear inside conveniently pre-pitched tents, the kids beelined for the jungle gym and slides.

Then we were separated into three manageable clumps and guided on an animal scavenger hunt. All we knew was that the animals were African. Precisely which animals we had to figure out with rhyming clues.

My son and I were among a small herd of parents and young boys, the latter of which took off running and screaming as soon as the hunt began. No stranger to kid proclivities, our guide anticipated this. Each time an errant child was about to slip from view, she expertly corralled us to offer more clues about where we were headed.

“The first creature is small and very alert,” she read from an oversized, laminated card. “In the savannas of Africa, it makes its home in the dirt.”

Stumped expressions and excited squeals yielded to more running and screaming until we eventually arrived at the meerkats. One was perched atop a rock; his friend nibbled lettuce in a cave.

In the evening, the animals tend to be more active, our guide said, and that seemed to be the case with most of the beasts we were hoofing to see. The elephant threw his trunk over the fence to snack on leaves. The fossa slinked around taking swipes at his chicken carcass dinner. The hippos swam, snorted and yawned. All of them served as teaching opportunities for guide and parents alike.

Seeing the hippo’s stained teeth, one mother told her 4-year-old: “That’s what happens when you don’t brush!”

Brushing was still a ways off, however. A piping-hot, buffet-style barbecue dinner was waiting for us when we got back. Then, just as we were nibbling the last kernels off our corncobs and reaching for the chocolate chip cookies, we were off again. This time it was for a little creature contact with some of the African continent’s smaller offerings, some touchable (the bearded dragon, black rabbit and boa constrictor) and some not (a black widow spider and tarantula).

With the moon lighting the night sky and the clock inching toward 10, we all went back to camp, where the dinner fixins had not only been cleared but replaced with s’mores and hot chocolate. Sugar before bed is usually a no-no, unless you want your kid to be wired till midnight, but the playground helped them run off their extra energy before conking out.

And conk out they did. By 10:30, the camp was entirely quiet, except for the chirp of nearby crickets, the not-so-far-away rush of cars and the occasional snore from a neighbor’s tent.

For those who woke up by 7, there was another guided walk around the zoo. At 7:30, breakfast. By 9 we were back to where we started.

And there was still an entire day left in the weekend.

Sue Carpenter can be reached at weekend@latimes.com.

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Wild Wonder Slumber

Note: Summer program dates are sold out, although there is a waiting list. Zoopendous Nights, a similar overnight program for community groups, takes place in this fall.

Where: Los Angeles Zoo, 5333 Zoo Drive, L.A.

When: 6 p.m. to 9 a.m. Saturday to Sunday, Aug. 6 to 7, Aug. 13 to 14, Aug. 20 to 21 and Sept. 10 to 11.

Price: Nonmembers: 13 and older, $85; 3 to 12, $60. Members: 13 and older, $65; 3 to 12, $45. Children 2 and younger, free.

Info: (323) 644-4211 or www.lazoo.org/education