You might know the song “Oh, there’s no place like home for the holidays.” However, if you are an Akron Zoo animal, your home is closed each year on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. In fact, every year our zoo is closed to the public for four days: Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. So what do our animals do with their holidays? 

It is hard for many of our guests to wrap their heads around, but there are Akron Zoo staff members in our park every day of the year - even Christmas! This is because our animals don’t celebrate the holidays like you and I do. For them, a holiday is just like any other day of the year; and they expect it to stay that way!

“Animal welfare is a top priority at the Akron Zoo, and our staffing plan for closed holidays continues to grow to reflect that,” says Vicky Croisant, Avian Keeper. “On holidays, keepers work a full day (albeit with minimal staffing) to ensure the animals receive the same care they would on any other day of the year. No, there aren't guests on grounds but there are plenty of winter days when we don't have guests anyway so it's not quite as anomalous as the public may think.” 

Keepers who do not work on closed holidays pitch in to help their coworkers in other ways. 

“Our team tries to prep as much as we can in the days leading up to the Christmas holiday to make the workload lighter for the keepers who will be working,” says keeper Christina Mlinaric. “Any diet prepping and restocking that might need done, we try to do ahead of time.” 

Of course, that doesn’t mean our animals’ holidays are completely void of seasonal surprises! Keepers tend to play Christmas music throughout the day for our animals (and, of course, themselves). Plus, our animals’ regular enrichment gets a bit of added holiday spirit, with special treats and items. Because of guests' generosity through donations to our giving tree, our animal ambassadors get to open new enrichment items and interact with them for the first time! 

So “Happy Everyday,” from all the animals here at the zoo! We hope to see you soon!