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"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed people can change the world: indeed it's the only thing that ever has!"
Margaret Meade
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Hours and Information
Buttonwood Park Zoo is open every day (except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Day) from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm (gates close at 4:30 pm).
Admission Fees:
Adult: $6
Senior: $4.50
Teen: $4.50
Child 3-12 yrs: $3.00
Child under 3: Free
Group rates are available for groups of 10 or more with advance registration. Call (508) 991-6178 for more information.
Free parking.
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There's no better place to spend time with your family this holiday season than at Buttonwood Park Zoo. Eight nights of Holiday Lights, weekends full of Santa encounters and the first New Bedford performance of Merry TubaChristmas offer a wide-range of holiday experiences. While you're here, visit our featured creature of the month, the Suffolk Punch Draft Horses!
Looking for unique gift and gift wrapping ideas this season? Look below for gift ideas and fun, eco-friendly ways to wrap that special gift.
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Have You Heard? Merry TubaChristmas!
 Buttonwood Park Zoo is thrilled to host the first New Bedford performance of Merry TubaChristmas on Saturday, December 8th at 2:00 pm. Get into the holiday spirit like never before as you listen to your favorite Christmas carols and sing along as local tuba and euphonium players of all ages perform these specially arranged tunes. Be sure to bundle up for this outdoor performance! Our special guest conductor will be Dr. David MacKenzie, music director of the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra. Admission to the zoo will be free for audience members and performers.
Play a brass instrument? You can participate! Please call (508) 991-6178 x 31 for more details.
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 Holiday Lights at the Zoo
December 8-9, 14-16, 21-23 6:00 to 9:00 pm
This holiday season, Buttonwood Park Zoo will be lit with festive lights, decorations and displays. Visit the animals in the barn and listen to a holiday story while sitting next to stalls of sheep, goats and horses, create a keepsake holiday craft in the aquatics building, visit with Santa (photos available) in his sparkling North Pole Village and then take a magical train or wagon ride through the zoo. Hot chocolate and warm gingerbread cookies await you in the Bear's Den Café, and the North Woods Gift Store will be open for the most unique holiday shopping in the area!
 Members: $4/adult, $2/child
Non-members: $6/adult, $3/child
Children under three are free.
Visit our Save the Date page for more details!
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Help Out at Holiday Lights
Are you looking for an opportunity to give back this December? The Buttonwood Park Zoological Society is seeking a team of dedicated and fun-loving volunteers to help decorate, lead crafts, and even assist Santa at our annual Holiday Lights event.
To get involved, contact:
Erine Anderson by emailing Eanderson@bpzoo.org or calling (508)991-4556 x 19.
**All volunteers for the event must be over 16 years old and register at least one week prior to service**
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Spend Quality Time with Santa
 Once again, Santa has found time in his busy schedule to visit with children at Buttonwood Park Zoo. Choose from two unique experiences that are sure to leave a smile on your child's face straight through December!
Milk and Cookies with Santa
Enjoy cookies and milk and then pose with Santa for a photo. A small gift and a train ride will be given to each child. Dates, Times and Cost
Breakfast with Santa
Dine on a hot breakfast buffet with Santa and have your picture taken with him. Photo, gift from Santa, train ride and admission to the zoo for the day are included in program price. Dates, Times and Cost
Participants must pre-register and pay in advance for both programs by calling the North Woods Gift Store at (508) 991-4556 x 14.
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Searching for a great gift? We can help!
P.A.L. Program
 Making your best pal a Zoo P.A.L. is the purrrrrfect gift! Say "Happy Holidays" with a Harbor Seal or "I love you" with a different kind of diamond - a Diamondback Terrapin that is - for that special, one-of-a-kind gift. Depending on the P.A.L. level, Buttonwood Park Zoo Proud Animal Lovers enjoy benefits that range from an official certificate, animal photo, free zoo passes, and even an up close and personal encounter with the animal P.A.L. and the keeper that cares for it. Visit our website or contact us for more details.
Gift Zoo Memberships
This December, receive 20% off gift zoo memberships! Take advantage of this limited time offer by calling (508) 991-4556 x 10 or by visiting the North Woods Gift Store.
Webkinz and Unique Animal Gifts
Make the North Woods Gift Store your shopping destination this holiday season with hundreds of unique gift ideas including Webkinz, the hottest toy this year. For a limited time, purchase three Webkinz at $12.95 each and receive the Lil' Kinz Hippo FREE! The Lil' Kinz promotion ends December 31st. Offer good while supplies last and does not apply to previous purchases. Membership discount does not apply.
 Don't know which Webkinz to get? Meet December's Webkinz Pet of the month, the Chihuahua. Adopt the Chihuahua anytime during the month of December and get some super surprises at www.webkinz.com!
The North Woods Gift Store is open every day from 10-5 but will be closed Christmas Day. Zoo admission is not required to visit the gift store.
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Give a Gift to the Animals
On your next visit to the zoo, stop by the Education Center to grab an ornament off the Enrichment Tree. Enrichment is done for every animal, every day at Buttonwood Park Zoo, and is the process of providing stimulating environments for Zoo animals to encourage natural behaviors. Each ornament on the Enrichment Tree lists a special item that our zookeepers use for enrichment, such as spices, kongs or nuts. Take the ornament with you, pick up the item on your next shopping trip, drop it off in the North Woods Gift Store when you're near or at the zoo and know that your support is very much appreciated by both zoo staff and the animals!
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Creature Feature: Suffolk Punch Draft Horses
Two residents of Buttonwood Farm, Ella and Pearl, are representatives of a very special breed of draft horse. Ella and Pearl are Suffolk Punch Draft Horses, a breed developed by farmers of eastern England solely for agricultural work while most other draft horses were being bred for use in warfare of the Middle Ages.
 Because the Suffolks were never selected for anything other than farm work, the breed retains characteristics valuable to farmers such as strength to plow through heavy clay, endurance to work long hours, a gentle personality, a willingness to work and be trained and a lifespan longer than any other breed of draft horse; up to 30 years. Suffolks are consistent and distinctive in appearance. All are chestnut in color with occasional white markings on the face or ankles. Their name comes from the breed's short-legged, compact and "punchy" appearance, with a typical Suffolk standing 16 to 17 hands high but weighing as much as 2,000 pounds.
Suffolk Punch Draft Horses were first imported to the United States in 1880 and gained strongholds in the Midwest and New England, though the Suffolk was never as popular as the Percheron, Belgian, or Clydesdale. The breed declined in numbers after World War II with the improvement of farming technology and came close to global extinction in the 1950s. Through the efforts of a few breeders the Suffolk survived and today there are approximately 600 Suffolk Punch Draft Horses in the United States and about 200 in England. The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy lists the Suffolk breed as 'critical,' but populations are growing thanks to dedicated breeders and institutions such as Buttonwood Park Zoo. The Suffolk Punch Draft Horse is an indispensable part of history, and is still useful today in fields where tractors or other equipment are inefficient because of deep mud or trees.
Pearl Bailey and Ella Fitzgerald, named after jazz singers, are nine year old half-sister Suffolk Punch Draft Horses that came to us from High Meadow Farms in upstate New York over seven years ago. Pearl can be distinguished from Ella by a prominent patch of white hair on her forehead and her slightly larger build. Pearl and Ella share a pasture with three ponies and have their own stalls in the barn at Buttonwood Farm. They receive daily exercise and enrichment; their favorite being "browse"-tree branches that supply hours of bark stripping and leaf snacking. Visit Pearl and Ella in their pasture during the day, or in the barn at Buttonwood Farm in the late afternoon/evening!
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Eco-tip: Natural and Recycled Gift Wrapping
 According to Stanford University, Americans throw away 25 percent more trash between Thanksgiving and New Year's than any other time of year. The result is about 1 million extra tons of trash each week. Financially speaking, Americans spend an estimated $2.7 billion annually on ribbons, paper, and bows, most of which will wind up in the trash. This year, save money, reduce waste and make your gifts stand out by using your imagination and these fun ideas:
As a family, decorate used paper shopping bags with:
« A poem hand written in bright colors
« Stenciled holiday decorations (Cut a potato in half, and carve a stencil in the flat part of each half. Dip the stencil in paint.)
« Hand paintings for a unique and personal touch
« Crayons
Fabric-especially cotton-a renewable resource, can be used for gift bags or as a unique way to bundle up oddly shaped presents. The fabric stores easily, is washable and can be used year after year.
Wallpaper remnants, old maps, sheet music, children's artwork and magazine photo collages can easily personalize a gift's wrapping.
Sturdy metal tea tins and cookie tins are great for all gifts, especially tasty treats.
Make the wrap a gift: scarves, backpacks, purses, robes, belts, and other items can serve as containers, wraps, or bows.
Instead of using tissue paper, run old newspaper and scent strips from magazines through a paper shredder. The scent strips will perfume your whole gift.
Air popped popcorn can also be used instead of tissue paper. Include a note that the birds can eat it!
Adorn your packages with:
« Old silk flowers
« VHS tape and cassette tape as ribbon
« Beads
« Pine cones, fir or cedar branches or twigs. Avoid using berries, as they can easily fall off and be potentially toxic to small children and pets.
Still want that classic gift wrap look? Check stores for recycled gift wrap, tissue paper and even recycled greeting cards. Look closely, these recycled options are often tucked in with the other wrapping and cards. Recycled options have been sighted at most larger stores in the area and also on-line at Smith and Hawken and Natural Elements. | |
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