Halloween festivities took over Sunset Zoo Oct. 23-25 during its Boo at the Zoo event. The weekend featured seasonal activities and performances while emphasizing the zoo’s wildlife conservation mission.
“As a part of parks and recreation with the City of Manhattan, Sunset Zoo’s special events are intended to be a community-gathering endeavor,” Cailin Wycoff, guest services manager at Sunset Zoo, said. “The funds raised from events like these go in part to support conservation efforts, which are critical to the mission of the zoo.”
Boo at the Zoo is a Halloween extravaganza featuring a variety of trunk-or-treat booths and a chance for people to show off their costumes in front of the animals. An event that originally started out as a type of haunted zoo has evolved into a three-day occasion for the whole family.
Sunset Zoo strives to make its events accessible for many different people. For Boo at the Zoo specifically, Friday was a designated night for those with disabilities. Instead of performances that could be loud and overwhelming, the zoo opted to feature a more sensory-friendly performance from K-State’s String Symphony.
“We think it’s important to create safe and welcoming spaces for people from all backgrounds and sensitivities,” Wycoff said. “Halloween activities can sometimes be overwhelming to certain individuals, and our Special Populations Night provides a more relaxed experience for families and individuals.”
Wycoff said Sunset Zoo is able to sustain the size of its event with the help of volunteers. Over 150 community members from high school age and beyond contributed to the event last weekend.
“Volunteers are absolutely critical to events like Boo at the Zoo,” Wycoff said. “While our staff works really hard to put on these events, we could not put on a three-day event of this scale without community volunteers and vendors.”
Alicia Schum began volunteering at Sunset Zoo in 2012 for a high school class, becoming a full-time volunteer until 2016. Now, she uses vacation days to continue her volunteer work and emphasizes the importance of getting involved with community events.
“Volunteering at the zoo or just for the events can help you discover what you want to do in life,” Schum said. “It can help you discover your limits of what you can handle, discover new skills and make new friends. Sometimes volunteering can change your life for the better.”
On top of individual volunteers, a variety of sponsors also support Boo at the Zoo, including Manhattan businesses. Arli Shults, education supervisor and volunteer coordinator at Sunset Zoo, said that by collaborating with different people around the Little Apple, Sunset Zoo extends its platform to a wider audience.
“It’s an opportunity for them to talk about their business or their organization in a fun and accessible way,” Shults said. “They get to engage with the public in a way that they don’t always get to do.”
Within its participants, Sunset Zoo strives to promote its mission of conservation. When people engage with the community through volunteering or participating in events like Boo at the Zoo, it not only benefits the zoo, but the animals and nature the zoo works hard to protect.
“Our mission is to inspire conservation of the natural world, and this is a great opportunity for us to get people experiencing our animal residence in a new way because when people connect animals in human care, that builds empathy,” Shults said. “And when they have empathy for animals, then that creates that conservation mindset.”
