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 – SUMMER 2025

Please see daily activity descriptions below. All programs subject to cancelation due to animal needs, weather or staff availability; please check daily signage in the Zoo Plaza for any changes to the schedule.

MONDAY – Zoo Crew Volunteer Day (all Guest Engagement Activities are facilitated by Volunteers)

  • 10:00am – Educator Chat (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
  • 10:30am – Wild Walk (free, see description below, meet in Fountain Plaza)
  • 11:00am – Little Zoo (select dates; see calendar)
  • 11:00am – Animal Ambassador Experience (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
  • 11:30am – Keeper Chat – Orangutan Dayroom at Asia: Trail of the Tiger
  • 1:30pm – Educator Chat (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
  • 2:30pm – Keeper Chat – Conservatory in World of Reptiles & Friends

TUESDAY

  • 9:30am – Little Buds at Snavely Statue (select dates; see calendar)
  • 10:00am – Educator Chat (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
  • 11:00am – Wild Babies (select dates; see calendar)
  • 11:30am – Keeper Chat – Otter/Gibbon at Asia: Trail of the Tiger
  • 12:00pm – Plant Chat (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
  • 1:30pm – Educator Chat (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
  • 2:30pm – Keeper Chat – Cheetah at African Safari Trail

WEDNESDAY

  • 10:00am – Educator Chat (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
  • 10:30am – Wild Walk (free, see description below, meet in Fountain Plaza)
  • 11:00am – Animal Encounter at the ZooLive! Stage (select dates in July and August; see calendar)
  • 11:30am – Keeper Chat – Patagonian Cavy at ZooFarm
  • 1:30pm – Educator Chat (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
  • 2:30pm – Keeper Chat – Aldabra Tortoise at African Safari Trail

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)
  • 11:30am – Keeper Chat – Bongo at African Safari Trail
  • 1:30pm – Educator Chat (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
  • 2:30pm – Keeper Chat – Laughing Kookaburra at Asia Aviary on Asia: Trail of the Tiger

FRIDAY

  • 10:00am – Educator Chat (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
  • 11:00am – Animal Wellness Campus Chat
  • 11:30am Keeper Chat – Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra at African Safari Trail
  • 1:30pm – Educator Chat (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
  • 2:30pm – Keeper Chat – Miniature Zebu and Western Heritage Mini Cows at ZooFarm

SATURDAY

  • 9:30am – Wild Tykes at Run Wild! Nature Discovery Zone (select dates; see calendar)
  • 10:00am – Educator Chat (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
  • 11:00am – Zoo Tales – Community Science Chat (select dates; see calendar; see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
  • 11:30am – Keeper Chat – Siamese Crocodile at World of Reptiles & Friends
  • 1:30pm – Educator Chat (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
  • 2:30pm – Keeper Chat – Southern Cassowary at Asia: Trail of the Tiger

SUNDAY

  • 10:00am – Educator Chat (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
  • 11:00am – Animal Ambassador Experience (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
  • 11:30am – Keeper Chat – American Mini Pigs at ZooFarm
  • 1:30pm – Educator Chat (see location listed in Fountain Plaza)
  • 2:30pm – Keeper Chat – Malayan Tapir at Asia: Trail of the Tiger

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 10:30am and meet in Fountain Plaza just after the front entry gates. Each tour will cover a conservation topic as you tour a trail with trained staff or volunteers. No registration necessary. Tour limited to the first 20 guests.

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’ ‘s Fountain Plaza and around the Zoo indicating Animal Pop-Up times and locations, Veterinary Procedures, and more!

CLICK HERE FOR THE EVENTS CALENDAR

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 educator wearing safari hat holds ball python while girl touches snake

ANIMAL AMBASSADOR EXPERIENCES

Come watch exciting presentations full of fun facts and Animal Ambassadors! Watch our animal handlers work with our Animal Ambassadors to demonstrate natural and enriching behaviors on grounds for our guests, with a specific theme and takeaway conservation message for each experience.

Includes Zoo Tales (Thursdays at 11am and the 1st Saturday of each month), Little Zoo (Mondays at 11am, see calendar), and Wild Babies (2nd Tuesday of each month at 9:45am).

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.

ANIMAL WELLNESS CHAT

Take a tour of our Animal Wellness Campus and look into our Veterinary Clinic and Diet Kitchen. Learn what it takes to care for our animals at the Zoo!

Fridays at 11am.

These formal chats last up to a half-hour, and take place in different locations of the Animal Wellness Campus. Guests may get the opportunity to view veterinary procedures or diet preparation!

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.

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL OF OUR BEHIND-THE-SCENES OPTIONS