Zoo de Barcelona is launching its Christmas programme this Friday. Throughout the month and up until 6 January, visitors can enjoy a range of festive family activities designed to foster respect for nature and biodiversity.

For the second year running, the amphitheatre at Zoo de Barcelona will be hosting the show “The Zoo elves”, a dramatised activity which includes a festive parade and some new surprises, showing how the Zoo works every day to preserve endangered species and how everybody can look after the planet. 

Open to all visitors and included in the admission price, the show will be offered every weekend and public holiday (except Christmas Day and Boxing Day) and weekdays during the school holidays. There are performances at 11.30 am, 1 pm and 3 pm. 

And on 22 December, visitors will be able to make the Zoo’s festive tió log poop its gifts. 

A scavenger hunt inspired by nature and a new Nature Passport activity

Besides the elf show and the tió, the Zoo is also offering the chance to take part in a nature-inspired scavenger hunt over the Christmas period. In addition, from 22 December onwards, those who complete it will get a birdhouse which they can paint and hang up at home or on trees at the Zoo itself to support urban birdlife. This activity is exclusively for Zoo Club members and will be available from 6 to 31 December. 

Over these same dates, the Zoo will be launching a new Nature Passport activity, a journey where Zoo Club members become ambassadors for the site, getting actively involved in conservation, scientific research and sharing the planet’s biodiversity. The new Nature Passport challenge is “Life in a drop”, where participants can discover how many different forms of microscopic life exist in a single drop of water and the impressive biodiversity of ponds. To take part, you must first register in the private members’ area on the Zoo website. 

Kangaroo Day, two days to celebrate family members who look after kids

Following its success last year, the Zoo will again be celebrating Kangaroo Day on 23 and 24 December, celebrating all those who look after children and playing on the double meaning of “cangur” in Catalan, where the word can refer to the animal or to a sitter. Over these two days, grandparents, aunts, uncles and godparents who go to the Zoo with a child will get free admission. A family activity will also offer the chance to learn more about theZoo’s kangaroos and their situation in the wild. 

Activity camps for children from 5 to 14 are back 

Once again, over the Christmas school holidays, the Zoo is offering three activity camps for children aged 5 to 14. The camps are “The Zoo’s Cooks” (23 and 24 December), “Let’s Travel with Animals” (27 December), and “Sign up for Conservation Work” (30 and 31 December and 2 and 3 January), three educational free-time activities to promote respect for the conservation of biodiversity and the environment. Those interested must sign up in advance on the Zoo website.