PRESS ROOM

ROYAL OAK, Mich., 

While Michigan is under a state of emergency due to the extreme cold temperatures, the Detroit Zoo and Belle Isle Nature Center will be closed to guests on Wednesday, January 30. Both facilities may be closed as well on Thursday, January 31, if conditions remain as currently projected.

“Our staff will be working to ensure that the animals receive the same excellent care as always during this cold snap, but it is simply too cold for our guests to visit the Detroit Zoo or Belle Isle Nature Center,” said Scott Carter, chief life sciences officer for the Detroit Zoological Society (DZS). “Additional staff are on site all night when temps drop this low to make sure building systems function as they should and the animals are safe.”

Many of the animals who live at the Detroit Zoo are especially adapted to cold weather, including the gray wolves, wolverines, bison, Japanese macaques, polar bears, arctic foxes and red pandas.

The Detroit Zoo has rarely closed due to weather in its 90-year history. Most recently, the Zoo was closed on August 12, 2014, when record-breaking rainfall swept through southeast Michigan, causing widespread flooding.