SAN PASQUAL VALLEY -- The San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park has temporarily extended its hours into the evening, giving park visitors a chance to beat the summer heat and see the facility's residents at a time when they tend to be more active.

The park usually closes at 6 p.m. but is open from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m. every day as part of a summer promotion that began last week and runs through Labor Day.

Visitors can also enjoy extra activities and shows that have been added for the evening hours.

Adam Ringler, director of operations at the animal park, said last week that it was too soon to tell how the changes might be affecting attendance. In general, though, the park tends to get more visitors in the summer compared to the rest of the year, he said.

"People have more time, they go on vacation, and they stay out longer" during the summer, Ringler said. "They're more active."

Park officials reported in May that they were seeing more repeat visits this year by people who purchase yearlong park and zoo memberships, apparently because the national recession was causing people who usually take major vacations to stick close to home.

While he had no numbers to prove it, Ringler said his own observations and anecdotal evidence from park employees suggests that trend was continuing.

People used to visiting during the day will get a different experience if they take advantage of the park's evening hours, he said.

"Once it gets down into the 60s to 70s -- as soon as that sun starts to head over that horizon -- it's a really nice place," Ringler said. "The animals also tend to become more active in the late afternoon and early evening. … So there's quite a bit to see."

People strolling around the park Thursday evening said they were enjoying the later hours.

Those visitors included Oceanside resident Jenny Martinez, 27, who said she bought a park membership after visiting the facility for the first time with her sister the week before.

"This time, we came at night because last time it was so hot," Martinez said after watching a kid-friendly bubble show with her husband, Jeudy, and 2-year-old son, Jason. "I was excited when I heard (about the extended hours). … I was dying last time."

Jeudy Martinez said the family also enjoyed the bubble show, which has a limited summer run. The 20-minute live performance is designed to be both educational and fun. David "The Bubble Guy" Herbelin, Ed Stanfield and "Uncle Swen" explain the science of bubbles while singing songs about them and using a variety gadgets to create thousands of bubbles large and small.

The nonprofit San Diego Zoological Society runs the park and the San Diego Zoo. Ringler said the park offers summer hours every year, with the promotion revolving around a specific theme each time.

A robotic dinosaur exhibit that opened in the park in May is this year's central theme. The attraction includes 24 life-sized dinosaurs that eat, snort and roar in the park's Conifer Forest; hands-on activities and crafts for children also are part of the exhibit.

"We do a lot of the (new) activities that take place both late in the afternoon and in the early evening, and some are tied into the dino exhibit," Ringler said. "And some are just regular entertainment."

Those entertainment options include evening performances of the park's regular shows and "Journey Into Africa," a tram ride that runs through the park's expansive Heart of Africa field exhibit. Extra "animal encounters," which offer visitors a chance to get close to a cheetah or other animals while keepers talk about their backgrounds and daily habits, have also been added to the park's schedule.

David Anami and George Funte were among those who caught one of the last Journey Into Africa trams before the park closed Thursday evening. The two said they were visiting from Canada and had never been to the park before.

"Friends of mine who live in San Diego told me this place gets really hot in the summer," Anami said. "But they didn't know you could stay late. The temperature is just perfect, and even our guide said he saw animals walking around and doing other things they don't usually do because a lot of them just sleep during the day."

Call staff writer Andrea Moss at 760-739-6654.