Willow Park Zoo to host Reindeer Trek

On Saturday, the Willow Park Zoo will be hosting its second annual Reindeer Trek event. The zoo will allow patrons to come and take pictures with the reindeer -- along with special guest star Santa Clause. The event will begin at 12 p.m. and end at 8 p.m.

Education director Barbara Tew said, she is excited about the Reindeer Trek after the success of the Boo in the Zoo event in October, which brought in a record number of 1500 people to the zoo.

“The nice thing about this is you come here and get pictures and you’re in a zoo with reindeer,” Tew said. “We’ll have games, hot chocolate and cookies.”

Tew said it’s a great opportunity to enjoy the holiday atmosphere, see the reindeer and meet Santa Clause.

“It’s only the second year that we’ve done it,” said Troy Cooper, the zoo director. “Last year we got the reindeer and we thought, ‘well we’ve got the reindeer why don’t we incorporate them into Christmas — and bring Santa.’ ”

Cooper said that they would like to improve on last year’s event and double the turnout. He said he’d like make this a Christmas staple for years to come.

“Last year’s was well-received,” Cooper said. “We’ve been looking at it trying to make it a little bit bigger and a little bit better. We’d like it to become a really strong Christmas event.”

The Reindeer Trek will also be held Dec. 1 and 3 from 4-8 p.m., and Dec. 6 from 12-8 p.m.