Forest Park Zoo Opens Saturday for 2025 Season

SPRINGFIELD — The Zoo in Forest Park will open for the season on Saturday, March 29 with a day full of interactive events.

“This is such an amazing time of year,” said Sarah Tsitso, executive director of the Zoo in Forest Park. “It’s been a long, cold winter, and now it’s finally time to reconnect with your favorite furry (or scaly, or feathered) friends here at the Zoo. There’s that old saying: ‘March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.’ But for us, as we reopen for another great season, March always ends with a bang.”

The zoo’s opening day will include keeper talks, animal encounters, enrichment demonstrations, and a contest to win a membership.

Keeper talks focusing on six different species — bald eagle, coyote, fisher, bobcat, lemur, and muntjac — will take place throughout the day at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1 p.m., 1:30 p.m., 2:30 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively. These presentations, hosted by zookeepers and zoo educators, provide more information about the species being presented, including diet, habitat, conservation status, and defense mechanisms, as well as the personal stories of the animals that have resulted in their need for permanent care at the zoo.

In addition to the keeper talks, guests will have the opportunity to participate in up-close animal encounters from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with animals such as turtles, snakes, parrots, and rabbits. Zookeepers will also be giving an enrichment presentation at 2 p.m. outside the enclosure of the zoo’s two resident timber wolves, Keeba and Sakari. Visitors will learn about the importance of enrichment offered to animals under human care. Guests will get to watch as the wolves are given sensory enrichment to explore.

One lucky family will leave the opening day celebration as new members of the Zoo in Forest Park. As part of the day’s festivities, visitors can complete a scavenger hunt around the Zoo for a chance to be entered into a random drawing for a 2025 family membership.

“We’re so excited to welcome guests back to the zoo,” said Gabry Tyson, assistant executive director. “Although the animals ensure it is never completely quiet around here, it sure is a lot quieter during the offseason. We’re ready to hear children laughing at our goats or families marveling at our bobcats.”

Beginning March 29, the zoo will be open weekends only from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through mid-May, but will be open daily April 12-27 for both Connecticut and Massachusetts school vacation weeks. After Mother’s Day, the zoo will move to its seven-day-a-week operating schedule.