PRESS ROOM

ROYAL OAK, Mich., 

The Detroit Zoological Society (DZS) is celebrating World Lizard Day on Wednesday, August 14, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Detroit Zoo’s Holden Reptile Conservation Center. Through hands-on activities, visitors can learn about the characteristics and behaviors of these cold-blooded reptiles as well as the threats they face in the wild.

Zookeeper talks will be held at 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Guests will be able to use a virtual-reality headset to explore the environment and behaviors of a Komodo dragon. Another activity will allow guests to learn what it means to be cold-blooded through analyzing photos of lizards taken with a thermal-imaging infrared camera.

“World Lizard Day helps people develop an appreciation for the lizards that call the Detroit Zoo home, as well as the thousands of other lizard species living around the world,” said Scott Carter, DZS chief life sciences officer. “It helps build an understanding of the threats lizards face in nature and what we do to help them.”

Visitors will learn about the 12 species of lizards that live at the Zoo, including the San Esteban Island chuckwalla, Rio Fuerte beaded lizard and prehensile-tailed skink. These lizards are part of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan, a cooperative management program that ensures genetically healthy, diverse and self-sustaining populations of threatened and endangered species.