Twilight tours show a different side of ABQ BioPark
Twilight tours show a different side of ABQ BioPark
See how the ABQ BioPark’s attractions come alive at night during three tours at the zoo, botanic garden and the bosque at Tingley Beach.
Learn about the behaviors of the creatures of night with the help of trained docents on each of these tours.
“We will have like 15 different groups of 10 walking around the zoo with a small group of 10 people being toured around by a knowledgeable docent talking to you about the various animals,” Cheri Vogel, education curator at ABQ BioPark, said of the zoo tour. “And all of the animals — most of the animals — are given in and out privileges, so the keeper staff is not on site but the animals choose to be outside because it’s such a beautiful evening and they just come out and hang out. The last time we did this, the lions were just magnificent. They were just up on top of their platform, showing off.”
The botanic garden doesn’t drift to sleep when evening comes around; there is plenty to see when the sun goes down.
“The garden at night is just such a spectacular place, because it’s a nice summer evening and there’s nobody else around and you just get to enjoy the garden,” Vogel said. “We do a lot of talking about things like night pollinators and how important some of these nocturnal animals are to maintaining the garden and some of our problem children who like to come to our garden and feast on our beautiful plants at night. … And the bats are usually out by the Japanese garden. We have a good variety of bats that come flying in at any given night. It’s always fun to be at the garden at night.”
Stroll through the bosque at Tingley Beach and witness the critters that are drawn to water at twilight.
“Those are a lot of fun, because you’re walking in the bosque at night so you’re looking for porcupines; you’re looking for raccoons — you know, any of the night life that you can see out there,” Vogel said. “Some of our nocturnal birds — again, the bats; you’ll see the bats for sure — and you know (animals) just coming out in the evening for a drink of water like the coyotes and things like that.”