San Antonio zoo lets visitors name cockroaches & rats after their exes to feed animals

For Valentine’s Day, the San Antonio Zoo is offering a unique and slightly vengeful gift: for a donation, they’ll name a cockroach or rodent after your ex… and then feed it to one of the zoo’s animals.

Valentine’s Day is almost here, and many stores are already displaying chocolates and cards so people can start shopping ahead of time.

A different company is preparing for the holidays in a quirky and humorous way, and their unusual approach is getting a lot of attention and making people laugh online.

Zoo lets patrons feed animals with roaches named after their exes

To help fund its operations and animal care, the San Antonio Zoo in Texas hosts a Valentine’s Day fundraising event each year.

So, there’s this really funny fundraiser the zoo is doing called ‘Cry Me a Cockroach’! Basically, you can donate five or fifteen bucks and ‘buy’ a cockroach, veggie, or even a rat for the animals to eat. It’s a weird concept, but I love it!

The most appealing part of this initiative is the chance to name cockroaches after someone who hurt them, playfully imagining the animals getting revenge for a broken heart. It’s a symbolic way to ‘get back’ at an ex-partner.

You can ‘name’ a cockroach or buy veggies for the animals for $5, or, for $15, you can name a rat after someone you used to date! Just visit the zoo’s website, make a donation, and tell them the name of the person you want to ‘honor’ in the form.

Plus, when you donate, you’ll get a video you can download of an animal being eaten by one of the zoo’s residents – perfect for sharing with friends, or maybe even an ex! It’s certainly a… direct way to show someone you’re thinking of them.

Here’s a unique way to get over an ex! Give a cockroach, rat, or vegetable your ex’s name, and we’ll feed it to one of our animal residents. Visit our website for details!

— San Antonio Zoo 🦍 (@SanAntonioZoo) January 20, 2026

The zoo’s new fundraising campaign is getting a lot of attention online, with people both laughing and shocked by its unusual approach. While many are playfully criticizing the campaign as being a bit over-the-top, others are upset about the idea of animals being fed live prey named after individuals.

The San Antonio Zoo insists its popular Valentine’s Day fundraiser is meant as lighthearted fun that benefits a worthy cause. They encourage people who dislike the holiday to use it as a way to make a positive impact.

San Antonio Zoo isn’t alone in its creative feeding practices. Back in 2025, Aalborg Zoo in Denmark gained attention for announcing that people could donate pets they no longer wanted as food for their lions and tigers.

A new trend at zoos involves staff dressing as pandas, offering a unique experience for visitors. This started after China recalled all of its pandas from zoos around the world earlier this year, leaving many eager to still see the beloved animals in some form.

2026-01-20 22:49

Zoo lets patrons feed animals with roaches named after their exes

Read More