In the dark at the Santa Barbara Zoo shines a Bobcat created entirely out of lights. He’s surrounded by giant lighted mushrooms and fluttering lights and butterflies. This bobcat is part of the new illuminated nighttime experience at the Santa Barbara Zoo called IllumaNature.
"This is the zoo's way of opening up our doors on a different time schedule and creating fun and fantastic memories for families," said Charles Hopper, President and CEO of the Zoo.
"We truly believe that when you are having an unforgettable experience, you want to understand what's happening at that institution. And so that understanding or that connection, that opportunity to connect to what we're doing, to our mission creates that understanding and that understanding fuels the next generation of conservation heroes."
The animals are in bed, mostly, although you may be lucky enough to spot the snow leopard taking a nighttime prowl around his enclosure. But rather than seeing zoo animals by day, this zoo experience is more for Instagram.
"They absolutely are. Storytelling is a huge way of how the community communicates nowadays. Instagrammable moments are ways to connect to a younger audience. We have multiple generations that we need to connect with and we need find different modalities to do that," said Hopper.
There are thousands of lights around the zoo taking visitors on a colorful journey through our native wildlife.
"Illuminature is celebrating California Coasting as its theme this year. We've got Monarch butterflies, we've got the California red-legged frog, we've got foxes, and it's illuminated in a way that makes it glow and reminds you of something out of Wonderland," said Hopper.
And IllumaNature at the Santa Barbara Zoo opens November 11 and runs through January 10.
