(upbeat music) - Utah's Hogle Zoo's after hours dazzling light display ZooLights is back again for its 18th year, and Engagement Supervisor Tauni Crisp is here with an animal ambassador to share more about what you can expect this year.

Hi, Tauni, thanks for being here.

So first, introduce us to your friend.

- Yeah, this here is Kalahari.

She's a Chuckwalla.

It's actually a species of iguana.

You can find her in Southern Utah, think the Red Rocks.

They're herbivores, and they can be kind of skittish.

So if you haven't seen one, it's 'cause they do tend to run away whenever they see potential predators, like coyotes or humans.

And then they wedge themselves in cracks of rocks, so then they just look like shadows underneath that rock there.

- Good camouflage.

- Absolutely.

And, she actually lives in the new area, Wild Utah, in our brand new building, the Norma Building.

So when you come to ZooLights, most of the animals are sleeping, and you're there to go see a walkthrough exhibit of our awesome lights.

But you can go inside our brand new building, the Norma Building, and see some of our animals, like Kalahari, the Chuckwalla.

- Ah, that's great, that's great.

I know it's part of the Wild Utah expansion you have, so yeah, great it'll be open.

So tell us what else to expect at ZooLights this year.

- Yeah, so for ZooLights, the tickets are 18 for adults and they are 16 for kids, ages three to 12, and two and under are free.

And then, through the Christmas Eve we do have Santa Claus, so if kids need to tell Santa what they would like for Christmas, come to Hogle Zoo.

And then we also do have a really awesome night, called our Silent Night, on the 26th of December, where we have reduced noises and smells and not so much flashing for the people who need that.

- Ah, that's so great you do that, and I know people, especially kids, always love going to this, all the lights and the lights of different creatures and yeah.

- Yeah, it's really awesome.

One of my favorite things this year is we have a new gingerbread area, where it looks like these big, giant gingerbread cutouts of different animals.

It's really fun.

- Ah, great, I know.

Anyway, thank you so much for being here and bringing your friend Kalahari.

- Thanks for having us, and I hope to see you at ZooLights this year.

- Yes, thanks.

And if you'd like to know more about ZooLights at Utah's Hogle Zoo, it's now through January 5th.

Go to hoglezoo.org for specific programs and nights.

That's hoglezoo.org.

I'm Mary Dickson, thanks for watching "Contact."

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