The Detroit Zoo gets even wilder on Wednesdays during July and August with its annual Wild Summer Nights concert series. Concerts take place in the Main Picnic Grove from 6:30 to 8 p.m. July 4 through Aug. 29, 2012, and are free with Zoo admission.

Admission prices are reduced to $5 for all guests after 5 p.m. on Wednesdays in July and August; members are admitted free. The Zoo remains open until 8 p.m.

Wild Summer Nights features a variety of live music from local bands, including children’s, folk, rock, Motown and R&B. Guests are welcome to bring blankets, lawn chairs and picnic baskets. Food, snacks, beer, wine and soft drinks are available for purchase from Zoo concessions.

Concert Schedule:
• July 4 – Gia Warner Band (rock classics)
• July 11 – Grievous Angel (Americana)
• July 18 – The Verve Pipe (children’s)
• July 25 – Joe Reilly (children’s)
• Aug. 1 – Candy Band (children’s)
• Aug. 8 – Jill Jack (folk)
• Aug. 15 – Gemini (children’s)
• Aug. 22 – The Sun Messengers (Motown and R&B)
• Aug. 29 – Playdate and Friends (children’s)

While Zoo visitors are getting their late-day dose of “Vitamin Z”, the animals will receive enrichment as well at 6 and 7 p.m. Offered daily at the Detroit Zoo, environmental enrichment enhances animal habitats to make them more dynamic and engaging. It includes the introduction of novel and sometimes unpredictable elements such as objects, sounds, scents or other stimuli that give the animals the opportunity to express choice and control in their environments and to make decisions, express individuality and behave in species-typical ways.

The Detroit Zoological Society is a nonprofit organization that operates the Detroit Zoo and Belle Isle Nature Zoo. Situated on 125 acres of naturalistic habitats, the Detroit Zoo is located at the intersection of 10 Mile Road and Woodward Avenue, just off I-696, in Royal Oak, Mich. The Detroit Zoo is open daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. April through Labor Day (with extended hours until 8 p.m. Wednesdays during July and August), 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. the day after Labor Day through October and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. November through March. Admission is $14 for adults 15 to 61, $12 for senior citizens 62 and older, and $9 for children 2 to 14 (children under 2 are free). The Belle Isle Nature Zoo is open Wednesday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April through October and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. November through March; closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Admission is free. For more information, call (248) 541-5717 or visit www.detroitzoo.org.