A group of kids and volunteers from a Peoria Zoo camp enjoy a look at the rhino barn during a Behind the Scenes tour. The zoo offers the tour monthly from May through October, with the next tour taking place at 9 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 20. (Photo courtesy Peoria Zoo).

If you’ve ever wanted to get closer to a zebra or wondered how much a rhinoceros actually weighs, the Peoria Zoo has just the tour for you.

The zoo has been offering an extensive Behind the Scenes tour once a month from May through October for about the past six years. The next hour-long tour begins at 9 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 20. Pre-registration is required but can be made up to the day before the tour.

“The Behind the Scenes tour came about because we wanted to showcase all that goes into taking care of the animals. People don’t realize the magnitude of what goes on behind the scenes,” said Jessica Slater, the Peoria Zoo’s curator of education.

Cost of the tour is $24 per person for non-members and includes admission to the zoo.

“People usually stay and walk through the zoo after the tour,”

The public can get a peek at Arthur, one of the Peoria Zoo’s lions, during a monthly Behind the Scenes tour. “You’re not touching any of the animals, but you’re definitely getting a feel for how large they are,” said Jessica Slater, the Peoria Zoo’s curator of education. (Photo courtesy Peoria Zoo).

Slater said. “It’s really an advantage. If you can get to the zoo early in the day when the animals are coming out into their exhibits for the first time that day, you’ll see them exploring their surroundings. A lot of times, the keepers have done something different, whether it’s adding a new scent to the exhibit or a different toy for the giraffes to manipulate with their tongues. So it’s fun to watch the animals discover those changes.”

The tour is recommended for ages 5 and up, but Slater said all ages have attended. “We’ve had entire families come through with grandma and grandpa and mom and dad and little kids,” Slater said. “It’s definitely an opportunity for a family experience.”

Private groups, such as Girl Scout troops or large families, that can’t make it to a scheduled tour can call to arrange a private tour, she added.

Tours are generally offered for between 5 and 20 people.

“Typically, we begin by heading over to Africa, and we do some combination of the central night house, which is where the zebras and lions are housed, as well as our aldabra tortoise, George,”Slater said. “So we see them up close and personal, and we peek down the lion hallway.”

A close-up look at the Peoria Zoo’s Grevy zebras, which weigh between 700 and 900 pounds, is a popular part of the zoo’s monthly Behind the Scenes tour. The tour allows people to see all the work that goes into caring for the animals. (Photo courtesy Peoria Zoo).

Next, the group comes face-to-face with the zebras through their enclosure.

“You’re not touching any of the animals, but you’re definitely getting a feel for how large they are,” Slater said. “That view of the zebra is pretty amazing behind the scenes, because you’re not seeing them from a distance like you usually do.”

Grevy zebras are among the largest zebras in the world, with the Peoria Zoo zebras weighing in between 700 and 900 pounds.

“You can definitely see every detail,” said Slater. “Grevy zebras have a lot of brown pigment as opposed to just the black and white. From a distance they’re always going to look black and white, but when you can get up close, you’re going to see their ears and their face and you can see a lot of brown tone.”

The rhinos are another popular stop on the Behind the Scenes tour.

‘The rhinos are neat because everything’s so large,” Slater said. “Our rhinos weigh between 4,000 and 5,000 pounds. You view them from a safe difference. There’s a magic yellow line on the ground that you have to stay behind, because in theory that’s how far a rhino’s horn could reach if it were to grow as long as it possibly could.”

Safety is a top priority behind the scenes because the tour goes into the zookeeper areas, not the public areas, Slater added.

The tour will show how rhinos are extensively trained to present themselves on their sides to be washed and brushed by their keepers, an activity the rhinos seem to enjoy, she said.

The Peoria Zoo’s lion cubs Nia, Kali and Zuri, who were born in December, can be seen in the Africa exhibit on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. (Photo courtesy Peoria Zoo).

Because the zookeepers are bustling about during the tour taking care of the animals, participants have an opportunity to ask specific questions they might not be able to while simply walking through the zoo.

“Having that other resource is a really cool thing when you’re behind the scenes,” said Slater, who usually leads the tours.

One of the last stops on the tour is the giraffes.

“You’re standing at a base level with a 17 ½-foot giraffe in front of you. Seeing them from up top on a regular zoo visit is really neat because you can see the detail in their faces, and you can see them from a distance and they’re so majestic walking across their yard. But behind the scenes, you get a real feel for truly how tall they are,” Slater said.

A baby giraffe born last month won’t be part of the Behind the Scenes tour for at least a few months.

“We monitor young offspring for a bit to monitor reactions and expose them slowly to new situations like the tours,” Slater said. “He’s adorable and growing quickly. We are excited for the public to see him.”

George, an aldabra tortoise, enjoys snacking on a melon at the Peoria Zoo. George is one of many zoo residents the public can learn about in an hour-long Behind the Scenes tour, which is offered monthly from May to October. (Photo courtesy Peoria Zoo).

Sometimes the tour will yield a surprise or two.

One tour group got an unexpected close-up view of cotton top tamarin monkeys who were in a temporary holding area near the zebras while their exhibit was being renovated. And recently, 150 budgies that tourists wouldn’t normally see were in quarantine in a behind-the-scenes area, Slater said.

“We hope the tour will help you make a personal connection with the Peoria Zoo,” she added.

After the Aug. 20 tour, remaining tour dates for this year are Sept. 24 and Oct. 22. For more information or to register, call (309) 681-3559.

— Behind the scenes at the Peoria Zoo  —