Lowry Park Zoo’s Sunset Celebrations offer extended hours for animal viewing Friday and Saturday nights through August 6.

  • Sunset Celebration runs through Aug. 6
  • Guests see wildlife in a whole new light
  • Night is capped off with laser show finale

"We're able to give people more opportunity to interact with the animals and with each other,” said Scott Swenson, Lowry Park Zoo’s creative director for the Sunset Celebrations.

These interactions are improved by shedding new light on animal habitats. Soft, unobtrusive lighting can be found in the Orangutan living quarters—enough to see that one of the adults is wearing a human shirt his caregivers gave him during an enrichment exercise.


A baby orangutan interacts with some zoo visitors.

There is also just enough light to make out a mother with baby in tow making their way to a viewing window. The baby reaches its hand out into the light—against the glass--and a teenager presses his hand on the human side.

They match each other’s spot, and soon, three young children crowd in, almost giddy at the sight of the infant’s soft, round eyes peering back at them.

For the zoo, this is the goal—connecting with the animals in a special way.

“Especially tonight we've seen the Orangutans have been watching us as much as we are watching them," said Swenson.

Zoo keepers spent months acclimating the animals to increased foot traffic in the evening hours. They continue to offer up-close encounters with their many animal ambassadors--from the prickly porcupine to smooth Halflinger Pony.

The Storie family was visiting from Oviedo when their children Will and Kate had their own special moment.

"I just pet a horsey!” Will explained.

Kate emphasized this excitedly.

“I pet a horsey," she explained, at one point holding the microphone to explain how it felt soft—like fur.

Once again, another moment that fits right into the zoo’s mission—to help forge connections with humans and the zoo’s animals.

But what’s better than a pony? Try a laser light show.

"It's includes laser, music, video imagery, still imagery -- all from Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo,” said Swenson. “So it's a special way to say thank you for spending the evening with us at the special Sunset Celebration."