Cheers and Chimps

The days are getting shorter, the air is getting cooler, and the summer crowds have petered away.  It’s autumn at the zoo, a lovely time of year to visit, but certainly not one of our busier seasons.   Of course, just because the turnstile isn’t moving as much doesn’t mean that expenses aren’t continuing to mount – animals and staff alike need to eat, regardless of the season.    For the zoo to thrive, additional revenue is always needed, and that means looking beyond the usual sources.

October is always good for Halloween events – not only can we offer trick-or-treating, costume contests, and the like, but it’s also a great opportunity to highlight snakes, spiders, bats, and other animals that many visitors are scared of.  I don’t know of a single zoo that doesn’t do something for Halloween.

In recent years, many zoos have decided to add more adult-focused autumn-events.  What candy is for children, beer is for the grown-ups.  An increasing number of facilities have autumn beer parties, mostly named after some variant of Oktoberfest (Croctoberfest?  Octobearfest?  Also popular are “Zoo Brew” and “Brew at the Zoo”).

Events like these are a great way to broaden the zoo’s appeal and attract visitors who might not otherwise come through the gates, perhaps thinking that the zoo is just for kids or family groups.  Once you get them through the gates – and with a little proper social lubricant – these adult guests may remember just how much fun a trip to the zoo or aquarium is, especially if there are cool enrichment and training demonstrations or roving animal ambassadors to catch their interest.

Some zoos have partnered with local breweries to even come up with their own animal-themed beers.  These beers can be sold at the breweries and local restaurants as well as the zoo’s festival, with a portion of the proceedings going either to the zoo or to support the conservation of the species.

Griffin Claw Brewing releases banana stout beer, highlighting gorilla conservation at Detroit Zoo

Of course, the only challenge that you have to worry about with a beer event at the zoo is security.  There is always the risk of some visitors becoming very intoxicated, either becoming belligerent, posing a health risk to themselves, getting behind the wheel and causing an accident, or doing something stupid that’s more zoo-focused, such as, I don’t know, falling (or climbing) into an exhibit.  For events such as these, security is of the utmost importance, as is having clear understandings of what is and isn’t acceptable and when to cut people off.  Some zoos close the campus to non-event visitors for the event, or keep the event confined to one portion of the facility just to make it easier to control. 

Several zoos and aquariums already serve beer.  I remember being shocked when I saw it for the first time growing up -  I thought it was a disaster waiting to happen, and that a drunk visitor riding a giraffe would come barreling by at any minute.  Now, it’s much more common place; even my own zoo does a brisk trade in beer (I mean… if you’re going to call what they sell “beer”).  Like many other aspects of the zoo, from mixed-species habitats to visitor-animal interaction, there is a chance that something could go wrong.  You just have to plan for it and prepare for the occasional problem to arise.

Most visitors who come to these events are very well-mannered and just want to come and have a good time with friends out among the animals.