THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 22, 1995 TAG: 9506200079
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAWSON MILLS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
It was love at first light and love at first bite for animal lovers and zoo lovers who gathered at The Virginia Zoo in Norfolk on a recent Saturday morning for the seventh annual ``Breakfast with the Animals.''
Maybe it wasn't exactly first light, but, as Margaret Falkiner, president of the Virginia Zoological Society, noted, ``When you can get 1,500 people somewhere by 8 a.m., it's pretty terrific.''
Falkiner explained that the event, open to the 5,000 zoo society members by invitation, has been drawing larger and larger crowds each year. It's a thank-you to the members, she said; attendees aren't charged admission during the two-hour event, which is held before the zoo opens to the public at 10 a.m.
Breakfast was served under a large tent, consisting of fruit, muffins, doughnuts, croissants, coffee and juice in plentiful supply, donated by area food and beverage companies. Large glass bowls on the serving tables to accept the suggested donation of $3.50 per adult and $1.50 per child filled rapidly as the morning progressed. Shortly after the serving lines opened, the zoo was filled with visitors eating their breakfast as the zoo staff fed the animals theirs.
``It's terrific,'' zoo superintendent Gary Ochsenbein said. ``The zoo is a very special place in the morning. It's great to have members enjoying it the way we do when we open up.''
In addition to breakfast for humans and animals alike, the two hours were punctuated with special events and activities to amuse, entertain and educate.
These included ``Elephant Exercises,'' ``Pig Pickin's (in the zoo's barnyard),'' ``Reptile Rap'' and ``Lemur Lessons'' (featuring red ruffed lemurs). Strolling docents and staff members wandered the grounds leading, holding or being held by Sampson the llama, Outback the skink and Balboa the boa constrictor.
As the snake show started, Falkiner noted, with a smile, ``Children love it; adults hate it.''
The $500,000 enclosure being constructed to house the zoo's two Siberian tigers proved a popular spot with visitors. The manmade ``rocks'' are almost complete, and the exhibit is scheduled to open in late August or September.
Landscaping, including a garden atop the ``rocks'' and stands of bamboo requiring more than two years to grow, will complete the natural look. The tigers, now grown, are not currently on display but will return to delight visitors when the enclosure is finished.
Ochsenbein said that, on summer weekends, the zoo can host 4,000 to 5,000 visitors a day. Overall attendance runs about 300,000 per year. This year, because of special events and the efforts of the education department, he expects attendance to reach 330,000.
Throughout the early morning hours the zoo was a beehive of activity. Patrick Agnew of Virginia Beach brought his daughter, Megan, to celebrate her eighth birthday, along with six of her friends.
``We've been before,'' he said. ``This is our second time. We got the invitation, and she asked to come.''
Mike and Mimsey Taylor of Norfolk brought son Nicholas, 4, twins Sydney and Kyle, 2, and a cousin, Richard Aufenger, 6.
``We'd been last year, loved it and came back,'' Mike explained.
``The kids love to touch all the animals,'' Mimsey said.
``We saw a blue-tailed skink in a book,'' Mike added. ``It's neat seeing it in real life.''
By 10 a.m., cashier Lola Jones, who had been counting visitors entering the zoo instead of collecting admission, was ecstatic.
``We had about 1,500 people,'' she said. ``I counted almost that many, and others were going in the other side as well. It's the biggest crowd we've had yet.''
Pattie Mollner, manning a membership table at the gate, shared Jones' enthusiasm.
``This is fantastic!,'' she said.
Twenty new members had signed up - she had expected only two or three. MEMO: For information about the Virginia Zoological Society, call 624-9937. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by DAWSON MILLS
Docent Kimberly Moore shows off Sampson the llama during ``Breakfast
With the Animals'' at the Norfolk zoo.
by CNB