‘Eat, Prey, Love’: Zoo invites heartbroken lovers to name a roach, rat or veggie after their ex — and feed it to animals |

Valentine’s Day isn’t all roses and candlelit dinners. For some, it’s a reminder of ghostings, bad breakups, and texts best left unread. And for those people, a zoo has a suggestion: skip the chocolates, name a cockroach after your ex, and let nature take care of the rest.The San Antonio Zoo has brought back its wildly popular, and unapologetically petty, Valentine’s Day fundraiser, Cry Me a Cockroach, giving the heartbroken a chance to turn emotional baggage into conservation dollars.The premise is simple, cheeky, and therapeutic. Participants can symbolically name a cockroach, rat, or veggie after a former flame or “not-so-special someone,” which is then fed to one of the zoo’s animal residents. The zoo insists it’s “all in good fun,” but the internet knows better, it’s closure with claws.Designed for guests 18 and older, the fundraiser encourages people to “turn your Valentine’s Day feelings into something wildly meaningful.” This year, the zoo is even “rolling back pricing to help with the vengeance,” offering naming options starting at $5 for a cockroach or veggie, and $15 for a rat.After selecting an option, making a donation, and submitting a name, participants receive a downloadable Valentine’s Day card, perfect for sharing with friends or former flames, along with a special Valentine’s Day video featuring one of the zoo’s popular animal residents enjoying the meal.While San Antonio’s version has become a viral favourite, it’s far from the only zoo leaning into breakup humour this February.Zoos across the United States have embraced the concept, offering scorned lovers an unconventional Valentine’s gift: naming a cockroach after their ex.“Skip the chocolates! Love has six legs this year,” the Bronx Zoo joked in a Facebook post promoting its own fundraiser.New York City’s iconic wildlife institution launched its Name-A-Roach program back in 2011, and it quickly caught on. The idea was soon adopted by other animal habitats, including the San Antonio Zoo in Texas, the Birmingham Zoo in Alabama, and the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. Today, more than a dozen zoos run their own versions of the event.According to the Wildlife Conservation Society, which oversees the Bronx Zoo as well as other New York attractions like the New York City Aquarium, an estimated 60,000 roaches have been named over the past 15 years. Those names haven’t just belonged to former partners, but also to loved ones and pop-culture celebrities, generating roughly $1 million in donations since the program began.