The Santa Barbara Zoo’s Princess Weekend has been postponed to April 14-15, due to a weather forecast of rain this weekend.
“The event is so popular that it was expanded from one day to two days last year,” said Cheyanne Brooks, the zoo’s marketing associate who organizes special events.
“We don’t want any damp or disappointed princesses this weekend, so it makes sense to reschedule in April,” Brooks said.
The planned activities remain the same, as does the goal of bringing attention to the many frog, toad and other amphibian species around the world that face possible extinction.
Princess Weekend will be 10 a.m.-3 p.m. April 14-15 at the Santa Barbara Zoo, 500 Niños Drive. Zoo members only are allowed early admission at 9 a.m.
The event is free with zoo admission: $18 adults, $13 seniors ages 65 and up, $10 children ages 2-12. Weekend parking is $11. For more, visit www.sbzoo.org.
Princess Weekend activities:
While frog-kissing is not required, there will be live animal encounters and keeper talks about several of the zoo’s amphibians, including milky frog, marine toad, blue tongue skink, caiman lizard, and Western toad.
Fairytale princesses such as Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, along with mermaids, fairies and other storybook characters, will be around for photos and a chat.
Costumes are encouraged, and boys are welcome, be they dressed as knights, princes, cowboys, pirates or astronauts.
Princess Weekend will feature a Kiss-a-Frog booth, face painting, bounce house, games and crafts, all with a princess theme. DJ Hetick will spin tunes for a dance party.
Santa Barbara City College Cosmetology Academy will offer makeovers for young princesses.
Those attending also can learn about and join FrogWatch USA, in which citizen scientists are trained to identify and count frogs and toads in local wetlands, creeks or other habitats.
During breeding season, February-August, volunteers listen for the croaks, peeps, trills and other calls of common species, and report their findings, which go into a national database.
The human commitment is just three minutes twice a week. For more, visit www.sbzoo.org/frogwatch-usa/.
Amphibians are in trouble worldwide, reports Santa Barbara Zoo CEO Rich Block.
“There has been a shocking drop in populations of the world’s amphibians,” Block said. “If only there was a fairy godmother with a magic wand to fix the problems they face.
“In the absence of that, accredited zoos and aquariums are working to address the issues in the wild, and are creating temporary captive ‘lifeboats’ of some of the most threatened species.”
Estimates are that at least one-third of known amphibian species are threatened with extinction, a rate higher than that for birds or mammals.
While the major culprits historically have been habitat loss and degradation, the main challenge today is the rapidly dispersing infectious fungal disease chytridiomycosis, which is causing population and species extinctions at an alarming rate.
Managed populations and “lifeboats” of amphibians may become the only conservation hope for many species faced with imminent extinction.
Zoos and aquariums accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), including the Santa Barbara Zoo, are committed to ensuring the survival of all amphibian species and are already an active force in amphibian conservation.
To learn more, visit www.aza.org/amphibian-conservation/.
— Julia McHugh for Santa Barbara Zoo.