Albuquerque BioPark prepares for summer events after two year hiatus

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – With the weather warming up, there are more events happening at the Albuquerque BioPark. But you don’t have to wait until June to get in on the fun at the zoo.

Less than a week ago, the BioPark announced their headliners for this year’s concerts. But Run for the Zoo is this weekend, with Mother’s Day the following month.

“This habitat is home to our female American alligators. And I picked it today because one of my favorite things during the summer and spring, when the weather’s warming up, is some of the animals that weren’t active before are now up and out and about, including a lot of our reptiles like our gators,” said Jessica Washburn, zoo education coordinator.

Run for the Zoo has been virtual for the last two years, but it’s back.

“We’re really excited to be back to normal, Run for the Zoo is one of our biggest fundraisers, so it’s really nice to be able to get back to our normal capacities. We have distances all the way from one mile up to a half marathon. You can walk it or you can run it, so you do not have to be the best runner or have trained for these. And some of our routes actually include stretches within the zoo. So it’s a really fun opportunity,” said Washburn.

And with Mother’s Day coming up, it’s fun learning about mothers at the zoo.

“We have a lot of zoo moms here, both past and current, and also some future moms. So we’re expecting an orangutan baby and a gorilla baby later this year. We’ll also be celebrating Karen our hippo who had baby Matilda last summer. And then some of our other veteran moms like our snow leopard,” Washburn said.

This isn’t the only type of event that you’re going to be seeing at the zoo, for more information on events, visit the Albuquerque BioPark’s website for more.