Blank Park Zoo's Reopening Strategy

Blank Park Zoo's Reopening Strategy

With the Governor’s announcement on June 10, 2020, Blank Park Zoo now enters the next phase of our reopening plan. Highlights of this plan include:

• A gradual increase in our current capacity to about 50 percent with greater emphasis on reminding guests to social distance as capacity increases.
• Train and Carousel rides continue to operate at limited capacity.
• Kids’ Kingdom experience and Camel ride are now open.
• The Discovery Center is now open. Beginning July 3, we will require masks for anyone over age 10 while inside the Discovery Center exhibit. Masks are available for purchase at the WildThings Gift Shop.
• We have discontinued the one-way path through the main section of the Zoo, however, we will still require a one-way path through Australia, Kids’ Kingdom, Jamaa Kwa Africa, and, the Discovery Center.
• We have moved away from timed-tickets to general admission any day tickets. Please pre-purchase tickets before arriving at Blank Park Zoo. Members DO NOT need to reserve a ticket in advance for daytime admission.
• When peak capacity occurs, admission may be delayed. Members and pre-purchased ticket holders will have priority admission. 
• Beginning July 1, we will increase our hours to 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the last admission occurring one hour before close.
• Click here to read our Enhance Reopening Measures FAQ

We hope to open the Feed a Giraffe experience and Parakeet Feeding soon. At the Feed a Giraffe experience, we are reconfiguring the deck so it can be a one-way experience. 

Masks are strongly encouraged but not required to attend Blank Park Zoo, except in the indoor Discovery Center Exhibit. All guests, ages 10 and up, will be required to wear a mask while touring. (This policy changed on June 29 and will become effective July 3)

Zoo employees are required to wear masks in public areas where they cannot ensure a six foot social distance from guests or coworkers and another form of PPE, such as plexiglass, is unavailable.

As more experiences open, we strongly recommend our guests to wear masks, especially in the indoor areas, and refrain from touching the ‘high - touch point areas,’ such as glass and acrylic windows, signs, and barriers.

Finally, we wanted to share these developments with you in advance to help you plan; however, since there are many aspects of the pandemic out of our control, we may have to make changes with little or no notice.

We want to thank you for being a supporter of Blank Park Zoo during this challenging time. As you can imagine, we have lost a significant amount of revenue during this crisis. The Zoo depends on operations to care for the animals at a cost of approximately $19,000 per day.  At this time, there is an urgent need, so please consider a donation to help with the care of the animals at YOUR Blank Park Zoo by clicking here.

Updated 6/29/2020