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The Virginia Zoo offers a wide variety of exciting opportunities to enhance your visit. Check out schedules below for a chance to meet with a keeper or animal care staff, chat with an educator, or even encounter animal ambassadors up-close!
Click here to see our animals that are currently off exhibit.
DAILY SCHEDULE – FALL/WINTER 2024
Please see daily activity descriptions below. All programs subject to cancelation due to animal needs or weather; please check daily signage in the Zoo Plaza for any changes to the schedule.
MONDAY
- 10:00am – Educator Chat (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
- 11:00am – ZooLive! Animal Ambassador Stage show
- 1:00pm – Educator Chat (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
TUESDAY
- 9:30am – Little Buds at Snavely Statue (select dates; see calendar)
- 10:00am – Educator Chat (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
- 12:00pm – Plant Chat (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
- 1:00pm – Educator Chat (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
WEDNESDAY
- 10:00am – Wild Walk (free, pre-registration required. Meet in Fountain Plaza)
- 1:00pm – Educator Chat (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
THURSDAY
- 9:30am – Wild Tykes at Nature Play (select dates; see calendar)
- 10:00am – Educator Chat (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
- 11:00am – Zoo Tales at the ZooLive! Stage or Africa Classroom (weather dependent)
- 1:00pm – Educator Chat (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
FRIDAY
- 10:00am – Educator Chat (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
- 11:00am – Community Science Chat (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
- 1:00pm – Educator Chat (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
SATURDAY
- 10:00am – Educator Chat (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
- 11:30am – Siamese Crocodile Keeper Chat
- 1:00pm – Educator Chat (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
- 2:30pm – Rhino Hornbill Keeper Chat
SUNDAY
- 10:00am – Educator Chat (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
- 11:00am – ZooLive! Animal Ambassador Stage show
- 11:30am – ZooFarm Mini Pigs Keeper Chat
- 1:00pm – Educator Chat (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
- 2:30pm – Tiger Keeper Chat
OTHER PROGRAMS INCLUDED WITH ADMISSION
We offer a variety of other regularly scheduled programs for guests in addition to those listed above, including Zoo Tales, Wild Tykes, and Little Buds. Please refer to our Events Calendar more information about these programs and their upcoming dates!
On Wednesdays, free Wild Walk guided tours are available at 10am for registered participants. Get more information and sign up for these tours here.
In addition to regularly scheduled programs, a number of other opportunities to engage with Zoo staff and meet animal ambassadors up close may occur on a daily basis. Be on the lookout for signage in the Zoo Plaza and around the Zoo indicating Animal Pop-Up times and locations, Veterinary Procedures, and more!
KEEPER CHATS
Ever wanted to know an animal’s birthday? Or their favorite treat? Get insider information about the animals at our Zoo from their own keepers!
These informal chats with Keeper staff last up to a half-hour.
EDUCATOR CHATS
Learn from our Zoo Educators all about the wild places our species at the Zoo come from, amazing adaptations they have, unique animal relationships, and conservation actions you can take to protect our natural world!
Topics change daily, and specific locations are posted on signage at the front of the Zoo each day. These informal chats last up to a half-hour.
ZOO LIVE! STAGE SHOWS
Come watch exciting presentations full of fun facts and animal ambassadors! Watch our animal handlers work with ambassador animals to demonstrate natural and enriching behaviors on stage to a seated audience, with a specific theme and takeaway conservation message for each show.
Animal handlers may be staff or Zoo volunteers and are extensively and ongoingly trained to follow protocols which comply with the requirements of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and other professional and state standards.
PLANT CHATS
Learn from our Horticulture or Education staff all about the beautiful and bountiful gardens and plants at the Virginia Zoo! From flowers and fruits to bugs and browse, there’s lots to learn about our plants at the Zoo and beyond.
Tuesdays at 12pm.
Topics change weekly, and specific locations are posted on signage at the front of the Zoo each day. These informal chats last up to a half-hour.
DIET KITCHEN CHATS
Watch our Zoo chefs at work, whipping up delicious diets for our animals! Learn from keeper or education staff how we source and deliver quality nutrition throughout the Zoo.
These informal chats last up to a half-hour, and take place at the Diet Kitchen windows at the Animal Wellness Campus. Guests may get the opportunity to talk live to our Zoo chefs as they work!
BEHIND-THE-SCENES TOUR
Learn about animal care, behavior, and conservation on an up-close and personal behind-the-scenes tour! Be introduced to a Zoo Keeper who can share information about the animals they care for as only they know them! Meet our rhinos, stand tall with the giraffes, or meet an almost-century-old tortoise. See a tapir in close proximity, learn more about the bison or chill with a sloth! The Virginia Zoo offers you once-in-a-lifetime animal tours filled with memorable experiences and fascinating information. Each tour is certain to cross off that item on your bucket list, as it will offer you and your family or friends the breathtaking experience of seeing the world’s most dramatic wildlife.