If haunted houses and scare actors don’t appeal to you, an Edmonton favourite is offering a toned-down Halloween event this weekend.
The Edmonton Valley Zoo is hosting its annual Boo! at the Zoo on Sunday from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm.
This year, the zoo is doing more to raise awareness about its conservation efforts with an extinct animal graveyard.
“It’s just some tombstones with some different animals that have been extinct over the past decades and centuries,” said special events coordinator Shannon Amos, “with some information as to why they went extinct to help with some awareness and information around how we can protect and preserve our animals.”
Some of the extinct animals that will be featured include the dodo, the laughing owl and the pinta island tortoise.
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“It’s a huge variety of animals,” Amos said.
The event, Amos said, will discuss “the different encroachments, hunting pressures they’re receiving and what we can do to help prevent other animals from going extinct in the future.”
She said the event is usually one of the biggest for the zoo, with around 5,000 people expected to turn out.
Along with the graveyard, there will be Halloween crafts, slimy science experiments, a witch’s den and even a scavenger hunt in partnership with Warner Bros. and its new movie Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.
Boo! at the Zoo is a family-friendly event, where everyone is welcome to dress up and bring bags for candy at the treat stops around the zoo.
More information is available at www.valleyzoo.ca or by calling 311.
— with files from Kerry McAthey