The Bronx Zoo’s popular Name-a-Roach program is back this Valentine’s Day season for its 13th year.
Since 2011, thousands of people from around the world have symbolically named Madagascar hissing cockroaches after their partners — or ex-partners. As a report from the Bronx Zoo says, “Flowers wilt and chocolates melt, but cockroaches last forever.”
New Yorkers can order their tiered, roach-themed Valentine’s Day gift through the Bronx Zoo website. The standard option is a $15 printable digital certificate delivered to the recipient’s email, though customers can upgrade their package to include socks, plush toys or even a virtual encounter with a cockroach and zoo expert.
More than 3,200 cockroaches were named last year and over 52,500 have been named since the start of the program in 2011.
The 2024 Name-a-Roach gift packages include:
- The Original — Digital certificate: $15
- Roach Plush — Plush and printed certificate: $40
- Roach Socks — Socks and printed certificate: $35 one pair/$50 two pairs
- Valentine’s Virtual Encounter & Roach Plush — Encounter, plush and printed certificate: $60
- Valentine’s Virtual Encounter & Roach Socks — Encounter, socks and printed certificate: $60 one pair/$75 two pairs
- The Works — Roach Plush, two pairs of Roach Socks, Valentine’s Virtual Encounter, and printed certificate: $85
The original digital certificate can be purchased anytime leading up to Valentine’s Day. To purchase an upgraded package complete with gifts, customers should order before Feb. 8.
Debbie Schneiderman is the executive director of membership at Wildlife Conservation Society. She helped to develop the program at its inception and her team has overseen it since. According to Schneiderman, the Name-a-Roach has become a popular gift not only between Valentines or exes, but also from parents to children. She says the virtual encounter offered with the higher-tiered packages offers a fun educational experience for the kids.
“It’s amazing that people come back year after year wanting to do this,” Schneiderman said. “Nothing says New York to me more than the way New Yorkers embrace Name-a-Roach every year.”
The money garnered from the Name-a-Roach program supports the operations of the Bronx Zoo and the Wildlife Conservation Society.
“It’s turned into so much more than just a joke about naming a roach after your ex,” Schneiderman said.
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