Kaiserslautern Zoo hosts special events in October

The Kaiserslautern Zoo, which is located in Kaiserslautern-Siegelbach, will sponsor a special Zoo Day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Zoo Friends, an association supporting the zoo.

Visitors will be able to admire two novelties: the meerkat facility, which was mainly built by the Zoo Friends, will officially open Sunday, and a new bird of prey, the female bald eagle Sky will be presented.

“The young bird that also is the American heraldic animal does not have a white head yet, but already is an eye-catcher,” said Karin Haselbach from the zoo administration and marketing office. The falconry, which is an important part of the local zoo concept, will present demonstrations with some other birds.

Animal caretakers will offer free guided tours to allow visitors to look behind the scenes, touch and feed the animals, and ask questions.

“Throughout the day, our visitors can pet our donkeys or little rabbits on our fest meadow, and ride our horses on the horse track,” said Mrs. Haselbach.

Children can have fun on a giant slide, get their faces painted to look like zoo animals, and the fingers’ workshop from Kaiserslautern gives them the chance to be creative and craft little animals.

The medieval association “Die Legende” will take visitors back into the Middle Ages and Punch will entertain the little ones with zoo stories. Zoo personnel will offer beverages and food specialties at the fest meadow and in the restaurant.

Another exciting event in October will be the Halloween celebration Oct. 31. At 4 p.m., witches, zombies and other creepy figures will offer free spooky guided tours. “Visitors should have strong nerves to join our tour, and after the tour, we will invite everybody to a free creepy dinner,” said Mrs. Haselbach.

The zoo is home of more than 350 animals of 50 different species living on a seven-hectare area. There are exotic animals, wild and domestic animals from various countries.

By keeping the animals in their natural environment, the zoo tries to demonstrate its way of nature conservation and the protection of species.

Opening hours are: 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. April through August; and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. September through March. The entrance fee is €5 for adults, and €2.50 for children 4 to 17 years old.

For more information, visit www.zoo-kl.de.