PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Despite the recession-battered economy, the Oregon Zoo continues to break attendance records. In 2009, the zoo topped 1.6 million visitors for the first time. The previous record, set in 2008, was 1.59 million visitors.
Zoo spokesman Bill LaMarche says summer was busy and the zoo’s summer concert series was a big draw. Beginning Labor Day weekend, robust crowds turned out to see the zoo’s new Predators of the Serengeti exhibit, featuring lions, cheetahs and African wild dogs.
In May, the zoo plans to start offering Prehistoric Predators, a summer exhibit featuring lifelike robotic dinosaurs. Also planned for summer is the Red Ape Reserve, a new orangutan and white-cheeked gibbon exhibit that will more than triple the orangutans’ current space.
