On the evening of Thursday, September 3, 2026, the Albuquerque BioPark Zoo will close its gates to the general public and open them to a different kind of crowd: adults, cocktails in hand, ready to spend a rare after-hours evening among the zoo's most misunderstood residents. The event is called Reptiles After Hours, and it is, by every measure, a first for the institution — an inaugural conservation fundraiser built entirely around the lizards, snakes, turtles, and tortoises that call the zoo home.
The setting is the BioPark's Reptile House and its surrounding grounds, including the Gator Swamp and the habitat of the Aldabra giant tortoises. For a ticket price of $100 for general admission or $125 for VIP, guests aged 18 and over will receive a complimentary cocktail or mocktail, three appetizers, and access to a full evening of demonstrations and encounters. VIP ticket holders get something even more memorable: a meet-and-greet with the Aldabra tortoises inside their own habitat. The event runs from 5:30 to 8 p.m., with last entry at 7 p.m., and tickets must be purchased online by August 31.
But the evening is far more than a chance to sip drinks beside a Komodo dragon. Every dollar raised goes directly to a conservation project on the other side of the world — the expansion of the Salina Reserve on Grand Cayman, one of the primary protected habitats for the endangered Grand Cayman blue iguana. The event's featured animal is Igor, a blue iguana who lives at the BioPark and is part of an international Species Survival Plan dedicated to protecting his species.
The Salina Reserve is home to nearly every living organism found in Grand Cayman, and in some cases it is the only place on Earth where certain species exist. The National Trust for the Cayman Islands now has the opportunity to purchase additional acres of undisturbed land in this critical ecosystem — land where 50 to 100 iguanas are released into the wild each year. That is precisely what Reptiles After Hours is designed to fund. The proceeds, channeled through the New Mexico BioPark Society, will go directly to the Salina Reserve expansion project, helping to secure more protected habitat for the blue iguana in its native range.
The evening's program is a showcase of the reptile team's work. At 6 p.m., guests can watch an American alligator feeding and training demonstration; at 6:20 p.m., a Komodo dragon carcass feed; at 6:45 p.m., a king cobra feed and an animal care chat about the Grand Cayman blue iguanas; and at 7:30 p.m., an anaconda feed, an alligator snapping turtle training demonstration, and a Chinese alligator training demonstration. Throughout the evening, discovery stations will feature alligators, Aldabra tortoises, and ambassador animals, while the Center for Species Survival team at the New Mexico BioPark Society will be on hand to discuss their work in reptile conservation. A merchandise and donations table will collect additional funds, all of which go directly to the Salina Reserve project.
As the BioPark's reptile keeper, Phil, told KRQE in the weeks leading up to the event, the entire evening is centered on conservation for the blue iguana. "The event is going to be full of lots of training demonstrations," he said, "so we'll be having a training demo with our American alligators as well as our Chinese alligators, and our alligator snapping turtle, we'll also be doing a carcass feed for our Komodo."
For one evening in early September, the zoo will be transformed into an adults-only gathering place — a chance to see the zoo's reptiles in a new light, and to help ensure a brighter future for a species in need.