Zoo Run Run

Get out and get moving on behalf of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo starting this winter with our 5K zoo run! Walk or run – all levels are welcome. Build your team and support the zoo’s mission.​

Here’s a chance for everyone to join in and be part of the action virtually through the winter and spring -- and in-person at the zoo on April 23. Participants will receive a finisher medal and complementary admission to the zoo. If you can’t participate, support a person or team!

This year's Zoo Run Run theme animal is the Komodo dragon. One female Komodo dragon - Naga - currently resides at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. Naga can be found in the Social Animals building during the colder months and moves outside to her summer home on the zoo courtyard when the weather warms up. 

The Zoo Run Run supports the mission of Friends of the Zoo to provide exceptional animal care and unparalleled conservation education in Central New York and beyond. Here are a few examples of the funds needed to care for just one animal here at the zoo, Naga the Komodo dragon:

• $16 buys a LickiMat wobble for Naga's enrichment

• $30 buys rats for a year, a staple in Naga's diet

• $40 could buy 200 lbs of sand for Naga's outdoor exhibit substrate, a black mat for basking or an Astro Tube for enrichment

• $50 buys quail for a year, another part of Naga's diet

• $56 buys a Lure Scent Training Kit for scent enrichment

• $90 could buy a Rock Pool to allow Naga to soak for healthy shedding or a 7 inch cylinder toy for enrichment

• $203 buys a Funny Float for enrichment

• $250 could buy pine bark nuggets for Naga's indoor exhibit or a heat pad to keep her pool temperature regulated

• $270 buys Arcadia UVB bulbs for a year - UVB is usually provided by natural sunlight and is needed to produce Vitamin D, to help Naga utilize calcium. With the cloudy weather of CNY, these bulbs are essential to Naga's winter care.

• $300 buys Mercury Vapor Bulbs for a year. These bulbs provide heat and UV light to aid in proper digestion. Reptiles rely on external heat sources to regulate their body temperature.

• $700 buys rabbits for a year, another essential element of Naga's diet

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