The Virginia Zoo

01/21/2025

🚨ATTENTION The Zoo will be closed tomorrow, January 22, due to inclement weather and freezing temperatures for the safety of our guests, animals, and staff. ❄️ We hope you all stay safe and warm, like our orangutans, by bundling up and staying indoors.

We anticipate resuming normal operations on Thursday, January 23, but will be monitoring the situation and notify of any change on social media and our website.

01/21/2025

Happy ! 🐿️ While we often think of squirrels as a nuisance for getting into trash or damaging your birdfeeders, they play an important role in their ecosystems by acting as seed dispersers. 🌰 When squirrels eat fruits, they oftentimes bring them to other parts of the forest and drop seeds far away from their parent trees. In a way, they are like nature's gardeners!

Here at the Virginia Zoo, we appreciate Kelapa the Prevost's squirrel every day, but we hope that you appreciate him the next time you visit us! He can be seen running between his indoor and outdoor habitats by the yellow barn at the ZooFarm.

01/20/2025

Red river hogs are one of 6 species of wild pigs found throughout Africa! One of their most famous cousins is the warthog, like Pumbaa from Disney's Mufasa: The Lion King. 🐗

Unlike their warty relatives, red river hogs have a bright rust-colored coat, inhabit rainforest habitats 🌴 , and are most active at night 🌙 . Warthogs have grayish brown coats, coexist with lions 🦁 out on the African savanna, and are active during the day ☀️ .

When you donate to the Wildlife Conservation Network's Lion Recovery Fund, you protect the other animals, like warthogs, that share their ecosystem. Visit this link 🔗 https://bit.ly/41QDqAp for more information!

01/19/2025

BRRR 🥶 Ricky the Kunkune pig said that he's bundled up and prepared for the cold weather! ❄️ Here at the Virginia Zoo we strive to provide the best animal care possible and that includes establishing temperature restrictions for our animals when the weather is too cold or hot.

Our animals are native to many different ecosystems across the globe, meaning that some may be more comfortable in warm temperatures, like our giraffes who are native to the African savanna, and some may be more comfortable in cooler temperatures, such as our red pandas who are native to the Himalayas. 🏔️ For guests, this may mean that when you visit during colder months, you do not see certain animals because they are staying warm in their night houses. Rest assured, guests can still visit our scaly & slimy friends in World of Reptiles, our giraffes & rhinos in their night houses, the siamangs & orangutans in their day rooms, and our ZooFarm animals inside their barn! 🐍 🦒 🦧 🐖

The Zoo will remain open during cold weather, though make sure to check our social media and website for operation updates due to hazardous weather conditions. When you visit, please be aware that some animals may not be visible as they have either chosen to be inside or are required to be due to temperature restrictions. 🌡️

01/18/2025

Have you visited Lily in her new exhibit space? 🦬 Last month, Lily was moved from her previous space behind World of Reptiles to a new habitat in the Flora Point section of the Zoo. Since the move, Lily has been thriving in her open space with a river view! 🌅

Read more about Lily, her move, and the new EdVenture & Exploration Campaign at this link:

Zoo Fans, Welcome to Lily’s New CribJanuary 17, 2025January 17, 2025 The year is starting off strong at the Virginia Zoo with a new exhibit for our American bison, Lily! This move was an important step in continuing the Zoo’s latest expansion project, the EdVenture & Exploration Campaign, which ...

01/17/2025

Happy 3rd birthday, Nitro! 🎉 Though Nitro might look like a squirrel, he is actually a northern tree shrew.

Northern tree shrews have the highest brain-to-body mass ratio of any animal, including humans! Measuring in at only 5.5-9 inches long and weighing about 0.44 pounds, that is an impressive feat for these curious critters. 🐿️

Nitro lives in the yellow barn at the ZooFarm and like his name suggests, he's very fast, so see if you can spot him during your next visit! 💨

01/16/2025

We're BEARy excited to be celebrating Chai's 19th birthday today! 🥳 Asiatic black bears, aka moon bears, are the perfect omnivores! 🐻 They have large canine teeth and smaller pointed incisors to help catch prey 🐛🐀, as well as flat grinding molars for chewing plant material. 🦷🌿

Chai will be celebrating by lounging around and munching on his favorite snacks (that means absolutely 🚫 NO 🚫 celery!) 🍯 Visit Chai on Asia: Trail of the Tiger the next time you're at the Zoo!

01/15/2025

It's a celebration filled day on our Africa - Okavango Delta Trail with not one, but TWO birthdays! 🎉 Today Ruuxa (aka Rue) the Hartmann's mountain zebra and Amadi the meerkat celebrate their birthday.

The youngest of our 3 zebras, Rue celebrates her 9th birthday today. 🦓 Rue's keepers say she is very affectionate towards our other 2 zebras, especially Rose who she treats as her adoptive mother. 👩‍🍼

Along the trail, Amadi celebrates his 13th birthday today! He loves basking in the sun and digging for bugs. 🪳 The easiest way to tell him apart from our other meerkat, Hardy, is that Amadi does not have a tail.

Be sure to wish these two a happy birthday on your next trip to the Zoo!

01/14/2025

Learn more about in this video from the Lion Recovery Fund 🦁 When you contribute to this campaign, you positively impact wild lion populations, their habitats, and the communities who share their landscapes. 🧡 Make your donation at this link: https://virginiazoo.givecloud.co/product/Protect/lion-recovery-fund

01/13/2025

🚨 GIVEAWAY ALERT 🚨 We're so excited to celebrate Valentine's Day next month that we want to give one lucky winner the chance to take their tweet-heart or their best (platonic) mate to our Kiss 💋 & Tail 🦎 strolling brunch event!

Caption this photo of our favorite vampiric valentines (get it.. because of their teeth) for a chance to win. 💏 Tag a friend in the comments for an additional entry (one tag = one entry!).

Winner will be contacted on Wednesday, January 15 by the Virginia Zoo. Can't wait to get your tickets to this SHELL-ebration? Purchase yours today at this link: https://bit.ly/408xu3w

01/12/2025

HOURS UPDATE🚨 Due to inclement weather, the Virginia Zoo will be delaying opening until 12pm tomorrow, January 12. ❄️

Thank you for your understanding. We hope everyone is staying safe and warm!

01/10/2025

ATTENTION 🚨 Due to inclement weather, the Virginia Zoo will be closed tomorrow, January 11 for the safety of our guests, animals, and staff. ❄️

We anticipate resuming normal operations on Sunday, January 12, but will be monitoring the situation and notify of any change on social media and our website. Stay safe and warm everyone!

01/09/2025

Athchomar Chomakaan! That means "Hello" in Dothraki, one of the languages spoken in Game of Thrones and is a fitting greeting to introduce our newest Huacaya alpacas. 🎉

Welcome Myrcella, Eleana, and Moonsinger! These girls are starting the new year off right by joining our ZooFarm family 🥹 Myrcella has beige fleece and is 7 years-old. Moonsinger has brown fleece, and Eleana has white fleece. Both Moonsinger and Eleana are two years-old.

The 3 are staying warm in our red barn with outdoor access as they please while they become more comfortable with their new space. Be sure to stop in and welcome them during your next visit and also say hi to our other alpacas, Troika and Calico! 🦙

01/09/2025

In the last 100 years, wild African lion populations have decreased drastically from 200,000 to just 20,000 individuals remaining! 🦁

Here at the Virginia Zoo, we are committed to protecting not only our lion pride, but also those remaining in the wild. Join us in supporting the Wildlife Conservation Network's Lion Recovery Fund and help on-the-grounds projects aimed at doubling lion populations in Africa by 2050. You can make an impact with wild lion populations by contributing to the campaign! 🐾

Visit this link 🔗 https://virginiazoo.givecloud.co/product/Protect/lion-recovery-fund to learn more and donate.

01/08/2025

We had too much fun celebrating, we forgot to share Bali's 21st birthday yesterday! 🍻 This amazing dad to Lovejoy and Finn has been a resident at the Virginia Zoo for 15 years and is thriving with his partner Malana.

Be sure to visit Bali and the whole siamang family on the Asia: Trail of the Tiger during your next visit! 🐵

01/08/2025

Want to round out your homeschool curriculum with engaging and hands-on activities? Join the Virginia Zoo for our series of Homeschool Programs starting January 13! 📚

Choose one that fits with your learning objectives or book the entire series! Students will meet an animal ambassador and participate in hands on programming, taking their learning to the next level! Visit this link to learn more and book your program today: https://virginiazoo.org/homeschool-programs/

01/07/2025

The Virginia Zoo will be closed today, January 7th, due to inclement weather. We hope you all stay safe and we can see you soon!

01/05/2025

Are you interested in the unique mating rituals of birds? Well is the perfect time to learn all about them! 🦚

As with many bird species, the oropendola puts on quite the display to win the ladies. This process involves the male swinging upside down, sometimes completing a full circle, while spreading and flapping their wings and singing to the female. In this photo you can see one of our male green oropendolas in the middle of this display.

It may be cold outside but our World of Reptiles Conservatory is always warm and provides you the opportunity to learn more about our fascinating feathered friends, so be sure to fly in soon! 🪶

📸 Eileen Murphy McCallum