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Name-A-Roach at the Bronx Zoo

A fun way to express yourself to loved ones (or otherwise) for Valentine’s Day

January 27, 2020

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner and the Bronx Zoo is once again offering the only gift that will last forever – the original Name-A-Roach is back.

The Bronx Zoo is offering the opportunity to symbolically name its 50,000-plus giant Madagascar hissing cockroaches for Valentine’s Day 2020. The tongue-in-cheek gift comes with a colorful certificate emailed to your loved one announcing that a cockroach has been named in his or her honor.

The Name-A-Roach offering is a light-hearted way to make sure your loved one knows your feelings will last a lifetime while helping the Bronx Zoo and WCS further its mission to save wildlife and wild places in New York and around the world.

For a $15 donation, your loved one will receive the printable certificate featuring the name chosen for your Valentine’s Day roach. To make an extra impression, upgrade send “the works” for a $50 donation which includes a printable certificate along with both available roach-themed gifts – a pair of roach socks and a roach scented candle. All orders can be placed at www.BronxZoo.com/Roach.

The original Name-A-Roach was launched by the Bronx Zoo in 2011, and thousands of hopeless romantics from around the world have named the zoo’s Madagascar hissing cockroaches after their favorite loved one, “ex,” or mother-in-law. Previous names chosen have been inspired by politics, music, movies, and more. The possibilities are limitless.

The zoo has plenty of roaches to name with thousands of the super-sized bugs on exhibit in Madagascar!—an award-winning habitat for lemurs, crocodiles, and many other species from the African island nation.

Madagascar hissing cockroaches are the world’s largest roach species reaching nearly four-inches long.  The namesake hissing noise is emitted as a defense mechanism.  Like nearly every roach species, Madagascar hissing cockroaches are not considered pests and rarely enter homes.