The Holiday Spirit Goes Wild at Zoo Lights at the Maryland Zoo!

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas

Only a hippopotamus will do

Don’t want a doll, no dinky tinkertoy

I want a hippopotamus to play with and enjoy

I couldn’t stop singing this cute Christmas song by Gayla Peevy, first released in in 1953 as we approached the Maryland Zoo to see its annual Zoo Lights.

During this holiday lights display, you get to visit the zoo after hours and catch some holiday spirit while enjoying a beautiful lighting installation from the warmth and comfort of your own car.

Although you’ll see animals in lights, you won’t see any real live animals — that’s because it’s after hours at the zoo, and the animals are smart enough to stay all snug like bugs in rugs in their various habitats and pens.

While on the lookout for your favorite animal shapes, you’ll be dazzled by more than 100k LED lights that highlight some favorites from the Zoo.

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas
I don’t think santa claus will mind, do you?
He won’t have to use our dirty chimney flue
Just bring him through the front door
That’s the easy thing to do

See if you can find them all: elephants, penguins, hippopotamuses, prancing ostriches, majestic lions, kangaroos, funny monkeys, peacocks, rhinos, polar bears, howling wolves, giraffes, reindeer, and more!

By visiting Zoo Lights, you will be supporting the Zoo’s animal care and conservation work.

The Maryland Zoo, formerly known as The Baltimore City Zoo, covers 135 acres in historic Druid Hill Park in the northwestern area of the City of Baltimore.

I want a hippopotamus for Christmas
Only a hippopotamus will do
No crocodiles, no rhinoceroses
I only like hippopotamuses
And hippopotamuses like me too