Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon Zoo officials are opening their gates Thursday for a free day.

Zoo director, Tony Vecchio says it’s an “open house” to thank Portland-area voters for their approval of the zoo’s $125 million bond measure.

Vecchio says the only obvious difference from a regular day at the zoo - other than the free admission - is that a few more people will be around to explain what the bond measure will do.

Vecchio: “If you wanted to learn more about the bond measure, there’ll be a table in the plaza area, zoo managers will be staffing that table all day long. There’ll be several volunteers who will be standing in front of the exhibits that will be most impacted by the bond measure.”

Vecchio says the busiest day in the zoo’s history was a free day in August, years ago, when over 16,000 people went through the gate.

He’s expecting less than one-third of that on Thanksgiving, but he still suggests going by light rail, and arriving early. 

Too early, though, and you might run into a different kind of animal - runners participating in the annual Turkey Trot, at the zoo and the surrounding Washington Park.