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July 3, 2025 • 13 mins
What's New at the Zoo?
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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Joining me here in the studio today I wanted to
get back to and escape to the Henry Doorly Zoo
and Aquarium. And joining me here is my friend Jennifer Crossdorfmeyer.
And Jennifer. First of all, welcome to our show. I
really appreciate you being here.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (00:14):
Okay, So, first of all, this is the first time
you and I have gotten a chance to meet and
talk to each other. You are the in PR and
marketing right.

Speaker 2 (00:22):
Yes, vice president of marketing and Communications.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
So when we talk about this, this is a zoo
that's number one in the nation. You know, you get
a chance to talk about, like all the cool and
awesome things that are going on at this amazing place.

Speaker 3 (00:38):
What's been your favorite.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
Thing so far in your job that you, you know,
can point to and be like, man, it's just so
cool coming to work here. What's like the favorite thing
that you have right now so far?

Speaker 2 (00:48):
You know, that's a great question. I think each and
every day is different, and you know, I'm just thankful
that I get to do what I do each and
every day. This morning we went in we have a
new employee that just started on my team and did
a golf cart run ahead of the zoo opening today

(01:08):
at eight am, because we want to do it before
everybody walks through our doors. But it was amazing, you know,
to be able to introduce somebody to the number one
zoo in the nation and to be able to see
our animals just you know, out there enjoying, you know,
their habitats. We got to actually see the giraffes this

(01:31):
morning that we're feeding on the brows that we brought in.
We got to see the elephants and our African grasslands
just interacting with one another. So I think, you know,
to answer your question, you know, every day is different
and it really just brings a smile on my face
that I get to do what I do.

Speaker 1 (01:52):
Yeah, I joke a lot that if I wasn't doing radio,
I just want to work at the zoo, even if
it's just you know, scoop and poo up from the
we're hiring.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
So if you want to come on over in your
spare time, you.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
Know what, I just might take you up on that offer. Now,
I will say this, the zoo is notorious, not just
for the amazing animal exhibits. I mean it's gigantic and
if you look at the size of our zoo versus
some other zoos around the nation, even though really renowned ones.
It's much larger and it has room for so many
cool things, including the Desert Dome. I think is the
big highlight in the Creatures of the Night underneath the

(02:27):
Desert Dome. But there are so many other new things
and amazing events that are always going on at the
zoo to kind of freshen things up and makes people
no matter what your age range, no matter what you're
interested in giving you a reason to go to the
zoo on a pretty regular basis. So let's go ahead
and talk about one of the new exhibits, like this

(02:48):
VR kind of situation that you guys now have in
the zoo. Tell me about this. I read about it
and it sounds really really cool.

Speaker 2 (02:56):
Yeah, it's our new feature this year. It's called wild Explore.
It's our ultimate three hundred and sixty degree virtual reality experience,
and it's it's amazing. I've already got to experience it.
You get to go into this container it is actually
located out on Hawk's Desert Dome Plaza, and yeah, it's

(03:20):
it's a it's an amazing experience where you get to
get into the pod strap on your VR goggles and
you can select one of three experiences to go through.
So if you want to trek with the gorillas, you
can do that. If you want to dive with the sharks,
you can do that. And if you want to, you know,
go on the Great African Migration, you have the opportunity

(03:42):
to do that. So it's just a really cool experience
that we can offer our members and guests. That is,
you know, something that's a little bit outside the box.
And yeah, and we've we've we've gotten brave reviews. People
are loving it, and we're going to freshen up those
experiences throughout the years, so we'll have some additional things

(04:02):
that we'll be offering here come fall.

Speaker 1 (04:05):
I can't wait. It sounds so awesome. Now, that is
one exhibit at the Zoo that I don't think people
would kind of put two and two together, kind of like, well,
I would never guessed that Henry Deulley Zoo I could
do something like that. That sounds like something I would
do with like an amusement park or something. Well, it's
kind of interesting because you can get all sorts of
cool things over at the Zoo and I've talked about

(04:25):
this before, but the late nights at the Zoo are
absolutely perfect for people like me. I don't have kids,
so you know, getting a chance to have a night
out with my wife, my friends, get to go out
see some of the animals after hours of the zoo
adults only food trucks. I mean, how do you tell
people about this, because that's such an awesome idea and
a cool way to bring a different and entirely different

(04:46):
type of person to the zoo that may otherwise not
have gone in the first place.

Speaker 2 (04:50):
Yeah, you know, late nights at the Zoo is it's
a great way to experience the zoo after hours, you know,
under the stars. You know, it's just when I talk
to people that come to us at that event, they're
just they just absolutely love it because it's just it's
a it's a different perspective of the zoo that you know,

(05:10):
you can enjoy with and without kids. So one of
the things I did want to mention is that we
have not only late nights for the Zoo twenty one plus,
but we did introduce this year the family Edition. Nice.

Speaker 3 (05:22):
That's so cool because I think.

Speaker 2 (05:24):
You know, it's important for us, you know, to be
able to cater to all of our audiences in different ways.
But yeah, it's just a way to experience the habitats
and some good food, some good drinks, you know, while
you're while you're at the zoo, and just being able
to see it in a different perspective versus during the day.

Speaker 1 (05:42):
Yeah, very very cool, especially if people have to work
like during the week days, could be something they look
forward to at the end of the day that they
can go, even with their families to one of these
late night events. Can you stick around for another segment
so we can break down some other stuff at the zoo.
We would going to do that coming up next. Thank
you so much for listening here with Jennifer crossdoor Meyer
from the Henry door Ley Zoo and Aquarium on News
Radio eleven ten KFAB.

Speaker 3 (06:04):
And Ride Songer on news Radio eleven ten KFAB.

Speaker 1 (06:09):
And joining me here in the studios is Jennifer crossdorff
Meyer from Henry door Ley Zoo and Aquarium. Jennifer, I
wanted to talk about the Safari Park, which people I'm people,
I forget to make the correlation there and I actually
haven't visited the Safari Park since I've moved here. So
tell me about kind of some of the stuff that's

(06:30):
going on that people can experience there that they wouldn't
get an opportunity to experience at the zoo.

Speaker 2 (06:35):
Yes. Well, the Wildlife Safari Park is out in Ashland, Nebraska,
which is about twenty minutes away from Omaha exit I
believe for twenty six. But yeah, when you go out there,
it is a Safari Park adventure that you experience in
your car, which is pretty amazing. So that in of
itself is not something you can experience anywhere else in Nebraska.

(06:58):
As far as the animals that you will see out there,
you're introduced right to the elk, they're right there on
the range. You go around the corner, you might see,
you know, the white tailed deer, and then you have
the eagles. You have the aviary out there, you have
the bison, you have bears, and you have the wolves

(07:20):
and the goats. Can't forget the goats either. But there's
just so much to see and do out there. It's
not just in your car. So there are areas where
you can park your car and then you can go
enjoy some of the walking trails. That's where you're going
to go see the bears and the wolves. So it
really is an immersive experience that you can enjoy, you know,

(07:41):
with your family.

Speaker 1 (07:43):
So it is it's incredible. Yeah, it's definitely something that
we need to go do. I know that you guys
have an exhibit out there that kind of celebrate some
of the smaller, you know, beings in the animal kingdom.

Speaker 2 (07:54):
Is that right, yes, per se. It is a self
guided journey. We have what's called Insected Venture exhibit that
is out there and they are life size thirty five
animatronic insects. Okay that so they're really not little in
this form, but you know, people can go through there.

(08:16):
We have a guide that they can take along with
and then they learn about the benefits of insects, right,
and what value that they do provide. So it's just
a great way to engage folks in an educational way
with the insects, but then also being able to see
the wildlife that's out there too. So it's just a

(08:37):
really nice combination for families.

Speaker 3 (08:39):
Yeah. I want to I want to do that.

Speaker 1 (08:40):
And this is one thing, right, Insects creepy crawley people,
you know, just I don't like these weird things that
are in my house or that I don't want them
around me. But I started watching videos about some of
them just online, and you start understanding the appreciation for
how invertebrates do kind of affect the bigger picture sure
of our you know, our world and our lives. So

(09:04):
I'm super pumped to check that out. And you guys,
when you talk about some of these exhibits, they're not
there forever, right, Like so this insect adventure, Like, is
there a time that that's going to go away so
people can make sure that they get out there and
see it before it's gone.

Speaker 2 (09:19):
Yes, So we have the exhibit out there until October fifth.

Speaker 3 (09:23):
Okay, so you.

Speaker 2 (09:24):
Got a little time, but you know, now as a
great time to get the family in the car and
you know, take a tour out there and check out the.

Speaker 3 (09:32):
Bugs for sure.

Speaker 1 (09:33):
Now, another thing that I'm sure you do, Jennifer, is
somebody who's in charge of pr and marketing is to
tell people about social media and how they can follow
what's going on at the zoo in the Safari Park.
In social media, it's always a lot of fun because
you get good videos of some of the great things.
I know, you guys, celebrated Porcupine Day a couple of
days ago. I'm a big porcupine guy. So how do
people follow along with what you guys got going on
social media?

Speaker 2 (09:54):
Yes, so for the zoo, please, you know, follow us
on Facebook at Omaha Zoo. We're on Instagram and we
are also on LinkedIn and TikTok. And then for the
Wildlife Safari Park, we are on Facebook as well as
Instagram and TikTok too. So yeah, welcome the more you
know people that come and follow us and engage with us.

(10:17):
We love to, you know, hear from from our our
local visitors and those that you know come in from
from out of state. I think that the way that
we get better is by hearing from from individuals out
there about how great their experience was, because I think
who doesn't have a great memory right when going to
the zoo or the Wildlife Safari Park. So we just

(10:38):
we love to hear those things.

Speaker 3 (10:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (10:40):
I go every single time that I go, and I
go with some frequency and I always have you know,
I have my own favorite animals, but I always have
like an experience like, oh that was a really cool
thing today that I got to see. Do you have
a favorite Do you have a favorite animal or exhibit
to this point, you know, an animal that you just
kind of like, Oh, I'm just kind of obsessed with
watching this animal, you know, do what they do.

Speaker 2 (11:02):
That's funny you asked that, and I've learned that I
don't because I think that at the zoo and the
Safari Park. I mean, really, what what I take away
are just each of those experiences at you know, every
habitat or even you know, meeting with you know, members
and guests that are coming in. I just think, you know,

(11:23):
it's important that you do you do zoo your way right.
And I think for me trying to pick a specific
animal or specie that I love, I think that's hard
to do because there's just so much to see and
do there.

Speaker 3 (11:36):
I love them all. Yeah, that's a good point.

Speaker 1 (11:38):
I'll sit in the aquarium where you know, like it
goes over the top of you, and you'll just sit
in there in that tunnel and I'll pick out like, oh,
there's a ray, I love the ray. Oh there's a turtle,
I love the turtle. Oh there's a little shark. I
like that little shark. Even though like I can't help
myself it's just it's just how I am. But if
you're interested in the zoo, there are ways online and

(11:59):
also when you walk up to buy tickets for events
and also just general admission. What would be the easiest
way for people to learn more?

Speaker 2 (12:06):
Yeah, if you can go to omahazoo dot com. We
have our Today at the Zoo page which really informs guests,
members and guests of what's going on at the zoo
that day. So that is a great resource. And you
can buy memberships online as well as tickets. And I
do want to plug that we do have late Nights
Tonight plus twenty one version, so anybody looking for something

(12:26):
to do. It starts at seven o'clock and goes to
ten thirty.

Speaker 1 (12:30):
And what a great night to be out and about
and you get like a couple hours of that sunlight
still and you get a chance to see some of
the animals while they're still out and about, and it's
also kind of the kickoff to a three day weekend
for most people. It's the perfect night to be going
out and having a great time at the zoo.

Speaker 3 (12:44):
So, Jennifer, this has been awesome. It's great to meet you.

Speaker 1 (12:47):
Thanks so much for coming in and talking about all
the great things and exhibits happening at.

Speaker 3 (12:50):
The zoo in the Wildlife Safari Park.

Speaker 1 (12:51):
And I'm sure this will not be the last time
that'll be chat Thanks for having me.

Speaker 3 (12:55):
How cool is that?

Speaker 1 (12:56):
Omahazoo dot com And follow Henry or Lei Zoo and
Aquarium on Facebook, Instagram, or wherever you're on social media,
because I really get a kick out of seeing the
animals even when I can't actually go to the zoo
that day. And do not tempt me, because if there
was a chance for me to work at the zoo
would be an awful hard thing for me to say
no to.

Speaker 3 (13:16):
And just throw that out there.

Speaker 1 (13:18):
Although I mean Matt today, like we're having fun today,
but sometimes it's a zoo in here.

Speaker 3 (13:25):
Maybe not in the same way, it almost smells the same.
But which animal would you want to attend after? It's
your situation? Small ones? Okay?

Speaker 1 (13:35):
Yeah, Like the porcupines are a good one. Yeah, nothing
that could run me over, Not that they would, you know,
just you know a little bit more control for a
novice like myself.

Speaker 3 (13:43):
Sure we'll have more fun coming up. News Radio eleven
ten kfa B
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