Night of Zoos: A special evening of wildlife wonders across Hungary

In 2024, The Night of Zoos will take place on 30 August. This is the time of the year when animals will be the main attraction for one evening, with guided tours, animal shows, feeding sessions, concerts, and various other activities happening in zoos and wildlife parks across the country.

The Night of Zoos is an annual tradition held every year on the last Friday of summer. This year, it falls on 30 August, when zoos and wildlife parks nationwide will offer special evening experiences, unique programs, and attractions.

Hungary is home to nearly 50 zoos, wildlife parks, bird parks, animal sanctuaries, and aquariums. Here are a few of them that will be participating in the end-of-August events.

Budapest Zoo

Opened in 1866, Budapest Zoo is one of the oldest operating zoos in Europe. It features classic buildings such as the Main Gate, Owl Castle, Magic Mountain, and the Elephant House, which is covered in Zsolnay tiles. Additionally, the Palm House and the surrounding botanical gardens make it a fascinating place to explore. Notably, the zoo’s hippos bathe in the thermal water from the Szent István spring, which also supplies some of the pools at the nearby Széchenyi Spa.

Source: zoobudapest.com

The program at the park this August includes a seal show, elephant training, shark diving, and spectacular feeding sessions for Persian leopards and lions. There will also be quizzes, various wildlife discovery activities, planetarium screenings for families, an arthropod show, educational presentations, and performances by fire jugglers, mirror animals, and musicians. For more information, visit the zoo’s website here.

Debrecen Zoo

Debrecen’s Nagyerdei Cultural Park, which houses both a zoo and a botanical garden, is also home to Hungary’s only permanent amusement park. Open in 1958, this zoo was the first of its kind to be established outside of Budapest and has since become an integral part of the city and the surrounding forest.

Photo: FB / Zoo Debrecen

Over the years, it has expanded from a small 17-hectare area to accommodate around 900 specimens from 170 species across five continents. For the 13th time, the park will host its biggest evening event of the season, the Night of Zoos, where guests can enjoy a unique summer evening program that showcases the natural and cultural diversity of Central and South America. For more information, click here.

Budakeszi Wildlife Park

Photo: FB / Budakeszi Vadaspark

The Budakeszi Wildlife Park features animals native to the Carpathian Basin. Visitors can explore the forest school, petting zoo, farmyard, event centre, and adventure park. In late summer and early autumn, guided tours offer the chance to hear deer bellowing at night. This August, the night-time program will provide a glimpse into the world of the night forest, the lives of the animals after dark, and a range of other fascinating activities. For more details, click here.

Veresegyház Bear Sanctuary

Photo: FB / Veresegyházi Medveotthon

At the 5.5-hectare Bear Sanctuary in Veresegyháza, visitors can see bears, wolves, reindeer, and many other species. One of the park’s main attractions is the opportunity to feed bears honey through the fence using giant wooden spoons.

On 30 August, the sanctuary will offer a variety of activities, feedings, and unique attractions for visitors, including introductions to bears, lions, snout bears, and raccoons, as well as astronomy-related activities. For more details, see the program’s website here.

Tropicarium and Oceanarium Budapest

Photo: www.facebook.com/tropicarium

Located in Campona, a mall in Budapest’s 22nd district, the Tropicarium houses hundreds of species of tropical, marine, freshwater, and domestic animals across its eight rooms. Optional activities include feeding monitor lizards or petting stingrays. The experience is enhanced by tropical rain that falls every 15 minutes, creating a perfect illusion of being in the tropics. On 30 August, starting at 6:00 PM, there will be presentations and feeding sessions for zebra sharks, moray eels, stingrays, and caimans, among others. Visitors will also have the opportunity to pet snakes as part of the programme, which you can check out here.

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