Animal Discovery Zone

11:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

Exhibit

Meet live reptiles, amphibians, and mammals, and learn about their habits and habitats!

Meet Animal Friends

What do snakes eat? How do chameleons change their color? There’s so much we can learn from our friends in the animal kingdom. In the Animal Discovery Zone, meet our animal ambassadors and learn from them about their habits, habitats, and biology. From hamsters to axolotls, our animal ambassadors, along with our expert staff, are the best teachers about the wonders of nature!

Critter Connection

Daily at 11:30 a.m. & 2:30 p.m.

Why do some lizards change color? How does a snake hear without ear holes? Bring your curiosity to this guided interactive exploration. Our expert staff bring an animal out of its enclosure so you can meet them up close with no glass between. Learn about our animals’ care and characteristics as we investigate your questions and discover new ones together. While some of our animal ambassadors don’t mind interacting directly with visitors, others may only be for observation. It’s turtle-y awesome!

About the Exhibit

Color in Nature

From simple to spectacular, animals come in as many colors as they do shapes and sizes. Their colors and patterns help them survive, but not always in the ways you might think! Observe animals like Delta the veiled chameleon, Xonga the Brazilian rainbow boa, and others to discover how their color and behavior help them survive and thrive in their habitat.

Ecosystems

An ecosystem is the interaction between a community of nonliving and living things, including people. How do humans change their ecosystem in ways that other organisms can’t?

Axolotls and humans have shared the same waterways crisscrossing modern-day Mexico City for centuries. Yet now wild axolotls are almost extinct. As people worked to provide enough food and space for the growing city, they changed and polluted the aquatic habitat. This affected both people and other animals. Learn about axolotls and investigate how humans can balance the needs of people and wildlife in the ecosystems we share.

Adaptation

What is an adaptation? It helps a group of animals survive in their habitat. An adaptation can be a behavior, like building a nest or hibernating, or even specialized body structures, such as gills or scales. Adaptations are passed along over many generations. Over millions of years, some groups of animals have changed a lot, while others have changed very little. Learn about adaptations by observing Indiana the legless lizard and other amazing animals!