Uncle Sam on stilts, giraffes: Lehigh Valley Zoo hosts Independence Day Celebration

NORTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — Of all the animals at the Lehigh Valley Zoo, four-year-old Jackson Landes loves the Masai giraffes the most.

• The Lehigh Valley Zoo on Tuesday held its annual Independence Day Celebration
• There was patriotic enrichment for the animals, free flags for guests and live music
• Even though it rained, hundreds attended the outdoor event

“We’ve been coming here for years,” Ashley Landes said after taking a photo of Jackson next to Uncle Sam on stilts and Radley the sea turtle, the ambassador for the zoo’s campaign to reduce single-use plastic waste. The family has made the trip from their home in Quakertown three or four times already this year, her husband, Adam, added. “He loves Tatu and Joshua,” said Ashley Landes.

The Landes family were among hundreds who on Tuesday visited the zoo, 5150 Game Preserve Road in Schnecksville, for its annual Independence Day Celebration. The event included patriotic enrichment for the animals, free flags for guests, as well as live music from the Allentown Hobo “Almost” Marching Band.

The event has been going on since 2017, said Matt Provence, the zoo’s chief operating officer.

While the average draw is about 1,000 visitors each year, it’s highly weather dependent.

Matt Provence, the Lehigh Valley Zoo's chief operating officer

While the average draw is about 1,000 visitors each year, it’s highly weather dependent, Provence said. There have been years with more than 1,800 visitors and others as low at 500 due to high temperatures or rain.

At least one deluge soaked the event briefly Tuesday afternoon — forecasters had warned earlier this week rain and thunderstorm activity could last through mid-evening on Tuesday, putting firework shows in the to-be-determined category.
It was the first large event since the May opening of Habitat Madagascar, a year-round lemur and tortoise exhibit. It’s the zoo’s first new exhibit in more than five years.
UntitledHabitat Madagascar is near the emu and ostrich exhibit, which seemed to be 7-month-old Daxton’s favorite, said his mother, Danielle Brown. The African penguins also seemed to catch his attention from his recline in a stroller.

“He was really looking at the emus,” said Brown, of Coopersburg. “We love the penguins.”