Thousands of people visited the Knoxville Zoo this weekend for the 21^st Annual Boo at the Zoo, an event that allows children to trick-or-treat within the safe walls of the zoo.

Boo at the Zoo, Knoxville's largest Halloween event, was held from Oct. 18-21 this week and will take place again from Oct. 25-28. The event lasts from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. each night.

"The purpose of the event is to provide a safe Halloween environment and also to benefit the zoo," said Janya Marshall, media relations manager for the zoo. Many other zoos across the nation hold similar events.

The purpose of the event is to provide a safe Halloween environment... Janya Marshall, media relations manager This year's Boo at the Zoo features 19 treat stations sponsored by various local businesses. Families can stroll down the Boo Trail and receive candy from volunteers at the stations.

Other volunteers in costumes greet trick-or-treaters and pose for pictures with them. UT finance major Kim Gilmore was one such volunteer.

"It's a lot of fun interaction with the kids. I like to see the kids smile," Gilmore said.

Other entertainment found along the Boo Trail includes camel rides, belly dancers, and the Clayton Family Kids Cove, where guests can enjoy music in the Monster Mash tent.

It's a lot of fun interaction with the kids. I like to see the kids smile. Kim Gilmore, volunteer Teresa Collins, special events manager for the zoo, said around 25,000 people attend the event each year. Three years ago the event had 34,000 attendees.

"We're really proud of it. Every year it gets bigger and bigger. It's a tradition; people who went as kids now bring their kids," Marshall said.

Boo at the Zoo tickets are on sale now; tickets are good for any night of the event, and all proceeds benefit animals at the zoo. Volunteers are still needed for the event; for more information call volunteer coordinator Heather DeBord at (865) 637-5331 ext. 325.

In other zoo news, the newly-opened Boyd Family Red Panda Village allows visitors to get up-close with the pandas in an open-air habitat.

The new exhibit features a 1,200-square-foot building and two outdoor areas enclosed with black mesh. The outdoor areas are landscaped with rocks, plants and both real and artificial trees. Some of the artificial trees include water cooling systems to make the branches more appealing to the thick-furred creatures.

Zookeeper Ann Scappaticci said, "It's a lot more like their natural habitat. It's a lot more open."

Visitors can get a good view of the animals in the outdoor areas, where only a low wall separates people from pandas.

The Knoxville Zoo is now home to nine red pandas; three new female animals have come from New Zealand's Wellington Zoo. 

More red pandas have been born at the Knoxville Zoo than any other zoo in the Western Hemisphere. Only one zoo in the Netherlands has had more cubs born. Pandas thrive in Knoxville because the climate is similar to that of the Sichuan and Yunnan provinces in China, where the pandas originate from.

Randy and Jenny Boyd of Knoxville paid for a large portion of the Red Panda Village's $400,000 cost. It is the first exhibit in a $12 million zoo construction plan, which includes a new African lion habitat and two-story building for reptiles and amphibians.