Family Fun

Pumpkin Feedings and Costume Cuteness Rule Boo at the LA Zoo

Cronch cronch: Watch animals eat pumpkins, take part in seasonal activities, and wear your favorite costume at the destination's month-big celebration.

Jamie Pham/GLAZA

What to Know

  • Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens
  • Oct. 1 through 31, 2022; weekends will offer extra events, like animal feedings and pop-up activities
  • Free with zoo admission

When we eat an especially tempting goodie, like the last miniature candy bar we find at the bottom of our trick-or-treat pumpkin, we might nibble at it, or munch it, or chew it slowly, all to savor its sweetness and flavor.

But some snack lovers approach October eating in a different, messier, fascinating-to-watch way. There's no polite nibbling or gentle tasting for these snackers; rather, they're ready to cronch, cronch, cronch their way through the shell of a pumpkin, all to reach those gooey, stringy, delicious insides.

We're referring to an assortment of remarkable and ravenous beasties and their love of cronching seasonal pumpkins, a tasty tradition observed by many animal parks.

The Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens is one such place, a celebratory spot that's become known for providing its resident critters with all sorts of ready-to-eat squashes when Halloween draws near.

Or should we say "howl-oween," since we're talking animals and not people? We think we might.

Jamie Pham/GLAZA

Pumpkin feedings aren't the only fascinating component of Boo at the LA Zoo, which will add a seasonal air to the animal park from Oct. 1 through 31.

While all sorts of Halloween-themed scenes will greet guests each and every day of the month, weekends will roar with special activities, education stations, and, yes, those oh-so-popular cronch sessions, where zoo residents get to chow down on pumpkin goodness.

And speaking of goodness? This is all included with your zoo admission, so no additional ticket is required.

And there are more good things to ponder, like the fact that "costumes are encouraged" at this "boo"-tiful happening.

Not-too-frightning photo opportunities, dressed in pretty pumpkin hues and autumn-cute quaintness, will also give families the chance to take a cheery snapshot while visiting.

Ready to cronch into some tickets? Find more information about visiting over at the Boo at the LA Zoo site, as well as the special events popping up each weekend during the month.

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