Zoo To You in Paso Robles has been limited to animal encounters over the past 20-plus months because of pandemic restrictions. On Saturday, the nonprofit is hosting their first gathering with a Christmas event: Wild Holiday by Conservation Ambassadors.
More than 150 animals, ranging from scaly skinks and alligators to optimistic otters and owls, Zoo To You is slowly easing its way back to hosting real events.
““Back at it. Finally,” said David Jackson, CEO of Zoo To You. “It’s just going to be a nice way back into it a little bit at a time. Our last Christmas event was 1,200 people – not now.”
Wild Holiday is from 3-6 p.m. this Saturday. Along with pizza and drinks, guests will walk through the gate and see Zoo To You’s camel, as well as other cute and cuddly animals like Tarzan, the 8-month-old Kangaroo.
“You’ll see many cool reptiles that we have, some of our birds; you’ll watch the otters open gifts, you’ll see David do a wildlife show, and while we’re doing this, we’ll have live music here,” said Lisa Jackson, Assistant Director for Zoo To You.
While Zoo to You’s school programs are making a slow return, they aren’t back to what they were pre-pandemic, so the nonprofit uses fundraisers like this one for maintenance of the zoo and to care for the abundance of animals.
“We see about 300 schools each year. That was all just gone in one day,” said David. “It’s very important to be a part of the community and to start getting some small groups and fundraising for taking care of all the animals.”
Getting back into the swing of things, Zoo To You will continue doing what they do best.
“We’re scrappy. You run a nonprofit for 30 years, you learn to be very scrappy,” said David.
There is a limited number of tickets remaining, so if you want to see these adorable animals, make sure you get them fast. Click here for a link to the tickets.
The band performing during the Wild Holiday is Moonshiner Collective. Zoo To You will be hosting another holiday event called Jungle of Love the weekend before Valentine’s Day.
