This spring, Miami residents can experience Zoo Miami in a whole new way through their latest attraction: Egg-Venture. From Mar. 4 to Apr. 4, attendees can participate in the virtual, in-park scavenger hunt.

“You visit the zoo and download a mobile application if you want to participate in Egg-Venture,” Director of Marketing & Integrated Communications at Zoo Miami, Cindy Castelblanco said. “While enjoying a stroll or bike ride through the park, families can use clues to find 12 fun eggs hidden all throughout our walkways.”

Guests can download the app, Eventzee, on the iPhone App Store or on Google Play. From there, they must create an account and type in the event code, ZOOMIAMI, to begin their hunt. After following the clues to find an egg, guests can “collect” each of the 12 eggs by scanning each egg’s unique QR code. 

“Families should come to the event because it’s a fun, safe way to celebrate spring or Easter outdoors,” Castelblanco said.

Once finished, guests can take a screenshot of their completion badge on the app and show it to an employee at the zoo’s exit to redeem their prize of eight treat-filled eco-friendly eggs. There, guests can also purchase a Springtastic Basket for $25 — filled with 80 colorful recycled eggs, a pack of wildflower seeds, a Zoo Miami Souvenir Cup, an animal plush, two Animal Feeding Tickets, a pair of sunglasses and a download code for an exclusive animal enrichment activity.

Admission includes the Egg-Venture. Tickets cost $18.95 for children ages 3-12 and $22.95 for adults. Zoo Miami currently operates at a limited daily capacity, meaning that visitors must buy tickets ahead of time. 

“Due to the pandemic, this is the first time we are having this mobile scavenger hunt instead of our regular egg hunt called Egg Safari. Normally for Egg Safari, we would have about 24,000 people on Easter weekend. These recent months, we’ve been getting about 7,500 people per day on weekends,” Castelblanco said.  “We’ve made Egg Venture last an entire month this time to spread out the amount of visitors that could visit over many days instead of only two. We want to keep everybody safe and socially distant.”

As per social distancing guidelines, groups of 10 or more are discouraged. Zoo Miami has also implemented the use of one-way only directional floor decals for certain exhibits and walkways. 

Zoo Miami has chosen to not only keep the health of its visitors’ in mind but the planet’s. To bring the springtime fun back home, guests can upcycle their Springtastic Basket by composting it.

“At Zoo Miami we use our compost to make our animals’ waste useful,”  Education Programs Manager at Zoo Miami, Lisette Chatel said. “Our agriculture department uses our compost soil to maintain all the beautiful gardens at the zoo.”

To reuse their basket as a composter, guests should start by gathering brown carbon-based materials, such as dead leaves, twigs and branches, as well as green nitrogen-based materials such as grass clippings, vegetable waste, fruit scraps and coffee grounds. They can then combine these ingredients in the basket at a 2:1 ratio of brown to green. The compost should be mixed every week or so and, once it has a soil-like texture, it is ready to use. 

After visiting the Egg-Venture, students can post their upcycled baskets on social media and tag Zoo Miami (@ZooMiami).

“Composting is fun! Studies have shown time outside can lower blood pressure, improve mood, improves focus and boost your immune system,” Chatel said. “I encourage you to try it… I guarantee you will not be disappointed!”