Detroit Zoo on the Path to Record-Breaking Attendance
The Detroit Zoo needs 400,000 more visitors to break an annual attendance record.
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.
