Learn How Animals Pitch Woo at the Detroit Zoo

ROYAL OAK, Mi – Birds do it. Bees do it. The animals at the Detroit Zoo do it, and you can find out how at the zoo’s fifth annual Love Gone Wild on Sunday, Feb. 14.

Open to both singles and sweethearts 21 and older, this Valentine’s Day event takes informal science learning to a new level through a candid, intimate and entertaining look at how many of the Detroit Zoo’s animal residents do the “wild thing”.

Held in the Detroit Zoo’s Ford Education Center, Love Gone Wild also features strolling hors d’oeuvres prepared by the zoo’s culinary team from Dining in the Wild, two drinks and a commemorative gift. New this year, guests may choose between two times – 4-5:30 p.m. or 6-7:30 p.m.

Detroit Zoological Society Chief Life Sciences Officer Scott Carter will share stories of the passionate and sometimes tawdry encounters, May-December romances, unrequited love, mate swapping and positions not found in the Kama Sutra.

The adult-themed exposé reveals details of the “love lives” of animals that are not always visible to zoo visitors or fit to print on Zoo signs.

“Whether it’s in prolonged public bouts of coitus or brief clandestine assignations, sex among the animals happens at the zoo,” Carter said. “We’re usually involved in planning or facilitating it, and we’re always watching for it, but we don’t often talk about it. One night each year, we not only talk about it, we name names and show pictures.”

The cost is $40 per person for Detroit Zoological Society members and $50 per person for non-members. Tickets must be purchased in advance and are available at www.detroitzoo.org/events/love-gone-wild.

To show the planet some love, Love Gone Wild will be a zero-waste event for the second year. The event will feature locally grown and sustainable menu options and incorporate environmentally friendly practices throughout the evening. The goal of the zero-waste philosophy is to prevent trash from going to landfills and to recycle and reuse as many products as possible.

» Detroit Zoo photo via Facebook