Boo At The Zoo

Boo at the Zoo, an annual Halloween event, is taking place weekends in October at the Denver Zoo. This long-running tradition lets parents take their kids trick-or-treating at the zoo, which sets up candy stations at various points throughout the grounds.  I was at the zoo last year during this event, and could not help but notice that the parents were dressed up in costumes as well as the kids, and the parents were helping themselves to the candy, too.  Of course, if I dressed up in a costume and tried this without the excuse of escorting a child, I would be thrown in the hoosegow. It's just not fair.  In any case, in addition to handing out candy, the zoo also adds a lot of Halloween decorations and lights along the walkways, some of which can be seen in the photo on the left.

However, I have noticed that there are no Halloween related interactions with the animals, beyond throwing a few pumpkins in their cages.  I myself was thinking the zoo should add something like rino rides to amuse the kids. After spotting the friendly rino in the photograph on the right, I think it would be fun for both the rino and the children to start those rides immediately.  I say just have a zoo intern lead the rino around on a predetermined path, and you have got yourself a major attraction.  What could go wrong?

Of course, zoo visitors are currently allowed to interact with and feed the giraffes if they buy a ticket for it, as seen in the photograph on the left.  My only complaint about this is that the group that has bought tickets are led to the feeding platform, as seen in the photograph on the left, while everyone else is locked out, preventing people who have not bought a ticket from watching this event close up.  Very unfair.  In the past, you could just walk out there and take photos, but no more.  That is just wrong.