Wild Lights at Miller Park Zoo is a rare evening of lights around the Miller Park Zoo. The event is 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. (B Corbin/WJBC)

By Stephanie Pawlowski

BLOOMINGTON - Wild Lights is back this year at Miller Park Zoo.

The zoo will be decorated with a thousand luminaries, lighting the walkways of the grounds with candle light. And, the program has been extended to two nights, Dec. 14 and 15 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Superintendent Jay Tetzloff said there will be spotlights on the red wolves and reindeer.

"Our family moved here three years ago and my wife is known as the Christmas boss in her family and she kind of noticed that there weren't a lot of Christmas events or holiday events around, so we kind of created this event to fill that void," Tetzloff said.

There will also be cookie decorating, ornament making, and Santa Claus. Hot chocolate and popcorn will also be available. Tetzloff said more than 700 people were at last year's event.

The zoo has several events this month, starting with Breakfast with Santa on Dec. 8, which is sold out. There's also Can Reindeer Fly on Dec. 16.

"(Santa) runs the reindeer through some exercises to see if they can join his team," Tetzloff said.

Finally, there's the Winter Safari Camp on Dec. 28 where kids aged 6-11 can make crafts, do activities and have animal encounters.

Stephanie Pawlowski can be reached at Stephanie.Pawlowski@Cumulus.com