Detroit Zoo on the Path to Record-Breaking Attendance
The Detroit Zoo needs 400,000 more visitors to break an annual attendance record.
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The Detroit Zoo is on track to hit an annual attendance record. Only 400,000 more people need to walk through the Detroit Zoo’s gates to break a record last set in 1997. Zoo Chief Operating Officer Gerry VanAcker says he’s optimistic about the chances for it this year, despite a near miss recently.
“Last year we hit 1,363,000. So we were just like 900 people short of a record last year. [We] almost encouraged friends and family to come in on New Years Eve for that.”
VanAcker says he credits a new dinosaur exhibit and wolf habitat for the increase in visitors. He says he expects even more people at the zoo next year, when a new, 33,000 square foot penguin exhibit opens.