Wellington Zoo Celebrates Record Breaking Year

With more than a month left in the financial year, Wellington Zoo has made history welcoming well over 200,000 visitors in the last 11 months.

"We set the magic 200,000 mark as a stretch target for ourselves a couple of years ago and it is fantastic that we have achieved it already this year, with still a month to go in our financial year" said Amy Hughes, Wellington Zoo Group Manager, Visitor Engagement.

"We have visitor attendance records that date back to the mid-60s and this is the first time we've had a 2 at the front of our numbers"

Yesterday the Zoo welcomed 4,091 visitors as part of Wellington Open Day - 400 more than the last Open Day, when Happy Feet, the Emperor Penguin, had just arrived at the Zoo for treatment. Sunday's amazing turn out despite the inclement weather made it the most visited day in the Zoo's recorded history.

"While we were already well on track to hit the 200,000 mark this year, being able to welcome so many of our community through our doors for a gold coin donation towards our conservation fund was a really fantastic way to achieve this target."

"These record breaking visitor numbers are a testament to the huge community support that we continue to receive - especially given the tough economic conditions that the whole country has been experiencing"

"We pride ourselves on encouraging people to find their personal connection with nature and this year we have been able to achieve this with more people than ever".

"We are hugely grateful to all of our visitors, fans and supporters from around New Zealand and around the world. We hope that they will continue to support us over the next year as we open our new ASB Malayan Sun Bears and Pub Charity Sumatran Tiger exhibits."

Wellington Zoo is a charitable trust principally funded by the Wellington City Council

ENDS

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