The Desert By Night

Over the years, I've hiked in North America's major deserts - the Mojave, the Sonora, the Chihuahua - including Joshua Tree, Saguaro, and Big Bend National Parks.  I've loved the beautiful scenary and gorgeous plant life; the animal life is much more cryptic, but what I have seen has been remarkable.  The only thing is, you can only (enjoyable) hike or look for wildlife at certain times of the day.  Or, more satisfyingly, at certain times of night.  Midday in the desert is hell.

What is true for viewing animals in the wild also holds for animals in a zoo.

A colleague I knew from the Phoenix Zoo told me that they would shut down for the hottest parts of the day.  The one time I visited that zoo was part of a conference, so I got to explore it in the evening - still light enough to see animals, but much cooler.  As a result, I got to see every species.  If I'd been there hours earlier, I can't imagine what I would have seen.  Especially if I'd gone in the summer.  Checking their website now (August, 2022), it seems that they are open 7AM to 1PM.

On that same trip to Phoenix, I also visited the stellar Desert Botanical Garden.  Actually, I visited twice, once in the day, and the second time at night.  You got to see much better during the day trip, but at night, it was an extraordinary experience.  I loved wandering the trails under the stars, enjoying the cool breezes, and keeping ears open and a flashlight ready for any nocturnal animals that might be scurrying around.  Parts of the trail were dimly lit.  Others gave you a chance to experience the desert in darkness.

I wonder about the potential of nocturnal zoo visits at facilities in the southwest, especially those that primarily feature desert animals, such as the Living Desert.  Most desert animals are already inclined to be inactive during the hottest part of the day, so they could still rest while the sun is up without being bothered by visitors.  As the sunsets, they'd be more active just as visitors would start to come in.  Feeding, enrichment, training demos, and other activities could be scheduled then, naturally replicating the time of day when animals are more active.  Visitors would have a better experience since they a) would see more and more active animals and b) would not die of sunstroke.  Zoos would be more accessible to families on weeknights, maybe helping to make weekends less chaotic and crowded.

The main challenge that I would see would be the staff, having to man the place and carry out operations outside of regular business hours, but who knows?  Maybe there's a legion of night-owl zookeepers who'd be up for shunning the 9-5 routine in favor of a more nocturnal existence.