The National Zoo generally is a family-friendly place, but at the Woo at the Zoo event Friday night, it was all about wild animal sexual behavior.
“We like to say we’re a free zoo where animals can have free love,” said Robert Lamb, executive director of Friends of the National Zoo.
Those who attended the event were presented with relationship advice from zookeepers and veterinarians about a wide variety of animals, including giant pandas, tortoises and cicadas. Topics ranged from dancing lessons from the blue-footed booby (it’s a bird, we promise) to safe-sex tips from tarantulas.
“Animals have rituals and dances and other performances that make their reproduction unique,” Lamb said.
The inspiration for the event came from the general interest in animal breeding at the zoo.
“Something about animal breeding seems to attract human beings,” Lamb said.
