Dublin Zoo enjoys record-breaking year
Last year saw a record-breaking number of visitors to Dublin Zoo.
The final footfall figure for 2012 surpassed last year’s 1 million reaching an all-time high of 1,029,417, it was announced today.
Leo Oosterweghel, director of Dublin Zoo said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have welcomed even more visitors than last year.
“We would like to thank all our friends and supporters, old and new, who helped us achieve this new record. Reaching 1 million in 2011 was fantastic but to do it again and add to that number is phenomenal.
“Our success can be attributed to the dedication and hard work of the team at Dublin Zoo. The team continuously strives to enhance the animal habitats and at the same time ensuring that visitors have an unforgettable experience which is value for money.
“We are delighted to say that the Zoo is more popular than ever. We are extremely proud to be in a position to say that after a decade of continuous development that Dublin Zoo is amongst the best Zoos in the world.”
Mr. Oosterweghel continued, “The Zoo belongs to the Irish people who have a great pride in such a world-class facility and we share our success with the generations who continue to support us.”
The year 2012 saw the opening of the Asian Forest, celebrated baby gorilla Kituba’s first birthday and welcomed many new arrivals including a rare Eastern bongo calf, a tapir calf, two red panda cubs, two meerkat pups, two snowy owls and a sea lion pup, not to mention many new births at the Family Farm and a visit from singer Jennifer Lopez who enjoyed a day out at the Zoo with her family in October.
Among the new arrivals and for the first time ever Dublin Zoo introduced two young Asian lionesses and a bull elephant, Upali, to the collection of animals.
The popular TV show ‘The Zoo’ aired for 10 weeks on RTÉ One in 2012 and ‘The Zoo Christmas Special’ was watched by an average audience of 429,000 viewers.
Mr. Oosterweghel continued: “Over the past two decades Dublin Zoo has transformed into a world-class centre of learning about wildlife and conservation. It is also an integral part of more and more European breeding programmes for endangered species.”
Dublin Zoo, a not-for-profit organisation, is open seven days a week from 9.30am to 4.30pm in January.
