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Bronx Zoo's World of Darkness exhibit
Switch the flip to dark mode: The Bronx Zoo is opening the new World of Darkness exhibit this Saturday.
NEW YORK CITY - Get ready to adjust your eyes from the bright city lights to a wave of darkness.
The Bronx Zoo is re-opening a nocturnal experience called the World of Darkness on Saturday, July 12.
What's inside The Bronx Zoo World of Darkness
The exhibit features 25 nocturnal species in over 20 different habitats, including tropical forests, wetlands, deserts, caves and subterranean environments.
The World of Darkness will, of course, have commonly known nocturnal animals such as bats and sloths, but keep an eye out for species such as the pygmy slow loris, broad-snouted caiman, aye-aye, sand cats, naked mole rats and more.
What they're saying:
Director of the Bronx Zoo Jim Breheny expressed his pride and delight for the exhibit at the ribbon-cutting ceremony today.
"In some ways, it showcases everything that we do here at the Bronx Zoo," he says. "We strive to have this amazing, diverse collection of species of animals… We introduce them to our guests, the people who come here, so they not only can – not only appreciate them, but for the first time, they're even learning these species exist."
The backstory:
The World of Darkness was first introduced on June 12, 1969, and became the first zoo to feature nocturnal animals on a reverse light cycle, according to the Bronx Zoo timeline. With this innovation, darkness arrives at the same time as the zoo opens for the day, allowing visitors to see night-dwelling species when they are most active.
The exhibit closed in April 2009, but is re-opening this summer with programmable LED lighting systems that simulate natural day-to-night transitions that mirror sunrise and sunset, as reported by WCSNewsroom.
How to get tickets:
Tickets are available on the Bronx Zoo website and the exhibit is manual and electric wheelchair accessible.
On Wednesdays, the Bronx Zoo offers reduced admission tickets with unlimited entry, as well as free limited admission tickets. Advance tickets are required for Wednesday's reduced admission. There is a four-ticket maximum, and they are available from 5p.m. on the Monday before.
World of Darkness tickets start at $38.20. Get them here.
Wednesday limited admission tickets are $0 and reduced tickets start at $17.95. Get them here.
The Source: This article uses information from the Bronx Zoo.