POWELL, Ohio — The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium released a statement addressing the hourslong wait it took for people to leave Wildlights on Saturday.
Tom Schmid, the zoo's president and CEO, said the zoo works with the Delaware County Sheriff's Office to fill special duty requests. However, those requests were not able to be filled for Saturday's Wildlights.
As a result, it took some people multiple hours to leave the zoo.
Schmid added that zoo employees have no legal authority to direct traffic on Powell Road or Riverside Drive.
"We are committed to preventing such situations in the future, and we are actively reviewing internal changes while continuing to communicate with local community partners and agencies to identify collaborative solutions," Schmid said.
This isn't the first instance of people waiting hours to leave Wildlights.
On Dec. 2, more than 23,500 people went to the zoo. A zoo spokesperson said the organization requested special duty officers, but no one was able to sign up. Many people wrote to 10TV about the wait times to leave.
Some people commented on the zoo's statement saying they waited as long as two hours to leave and that the delays aren't a new issue.
Wildlights at the zoo runs through Jan. 7, 2024.
To read the zoo's full statement, click here.
📺 10TV+ is available for free: Stay up to date on what's happening in your community with a 24/7 live stream and on demand content from 10TV — available on Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV.
📧 Subscribe to the Wake Up CBUS newsletter featuring the best stories, personally curated by members of our staff and delivered via email by 6 a.m., Monday through Friday.