Tacoma's Zoolights provides oasis of color

This year, a bit of the Middle East is coming to one of the Northwest's venerable holiday traditions.

When it opens Friday, visitors to Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium’s Zoolights festival will be able to hitch a ride on the zoo’s resident camels, 4-year-old Duma and 6-year-old Mojave. A new desert oasis scene with palm trees, water and pyramids complements the camel rides.

Zoo staff members have been stringing the 550,000 lights used for the popular annual festival since the first week of October. Returning favorite displays include the ice-skating puffins, swooping eagle and Mount Rainier overlooking the Narrows bridges.

The zoo is continuing its focus on conservation this holiday season: 90 percent of the display lights will be longer-lasting, more energy-efficient LEDs, a 5 percent increase from last year.

Point Defiance is also expanding its holiday lights recycling program, which began last year at the suggestion of 10-year-old Jessica Lam of Federal Way. Last year, the zoo collected about 5,000 old and less-efficient holiday light strings and was able to sell the scrap metal for more than $1,000, according to spokesperson Whitney Dal-Balcon.

The zoo, along with the Girl Scouts of Western Washington, hopes to double the number of strings recycled, with proceeds going to the zoo’s conservation fund. People can drop off lights at the front gate of the zoo, as well as eight other locations: Centre at Norpoint, Metro Parks Tacoma headquarters, Northwest Trek Wildlife Park, Tacoma Nature Center, People’s Neighborhood Center, Portland Avenue Neighborhood Center, South End Neighborhood Center and South Park Community Center.

Zoolights runs through Jan. 3. The recycling program continues through Jan. 15.

Joyce Chen: 253-597-8426

joyce.chen@thenewstribune.com