Workouts with the wildlife
Many of us have had a wild year – now it’s time to destress. This spring, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium will be hosting a new beginner workout series called “Workouts for Wildlife,” starting Sat. March 6 through Sun. April 11 at the Safari Golf Club. This initiative, inspired out of love for exercise and animals, will feature different fitness instructors as well as a variety of animals to meet.
The program, which offers session times at 9 a.m. and at 1 p.m., is priced at $89 for Columbus Zoo members and $99 for non-members. Preregistration is required and participants must be 10 years or older to attend. Social Photo by Grahm S. Jones. distancing will be enforced and the only item needed is a
yoga mat. All proceeds from these events will go toward the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium Emergency Animal Care Fund, which helps ensure the daily care, veterinary care and nutrition of the animals.
Shannon Swint, the Animal Program Operations Coordinator for the Columbus Zoo, says that the zoo has had success with workout programs in the past and figured that this would be a way to reignite animal and human interaction in a pandemic-safe way. After every workout session, different animals will be brought out to interact with participants. Among the animals featured will be penguins, cheetah and animals of the rainforest.
“Obviously being that we're in the midst of the pandemic, we're trying to come up with some socially distanced events, so it allows people to come to the zoo and see animals,” Swint says.
Swint says that each program will last about an hour and a half, usually opening with an animal at the beginning as a quick preview. Then there will be a small brunch with snacks and beverage, with animals mingling about, and even an auction portion where participants can donate to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium Emergency Animal Care Fund.
Michele Cannell, a certified fitness professional in yoga, personal training, wellness, CPR/AED, cycling, Pilates and Tai Chi, will be leading sessions on March 6 and April 10. The Wellness Wanderers, Meredith Bury and Paul Stewart, will host on March 7, 14 and 21 as well as April 11. The couple, who are trainers and yoga instructors, have worked with the zoo in the past.
Swint says that along with the instructors, the zoo is excited to start having some in-person events again.
“The zoo's mission is to connect people and wildlife, and that's something that we haven't gotten to do as much in the past year,” Swint says. “I think we took it for granted before. Until you have to really limit capacity, you don't get to see as many people and you're just not as busy with visitors, so I think we're excited to see people again and be able to kind of get back to some normalcy of doing in-person
types of events.”
Originally published on March 4, 2021, on cityscenecolumbus.com.
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