It was another big year for the Tulsa Zoo.
Attendance for the 2014–15 fiscal year was just under 637,700, the second-highest total in the zoo’s 87-year history. Its highest March attendance, 92,000, was set this year.
Spokeswoman Sarah Floyd said people wanted to see the new Mary K. Chapman Rhino Reserve, temporary dinosaur exhibit Zoorassic Park and zoo babies, including three tiger cubs.
"Malayan tiger cubs are very rare, and so I think a lot of people were very excited to come see them and watch them as they went on exhibit and then continue to watch them as they grow up," Floyd said.
Bigger attendance numbers mean a bigger impact on the local economy.
"We're one of Tulsa's largest economic draws," Floyd said. "We're really excited that we can contribute to our community in this way, and we're really grateful that we can be a resource to our community for recreation and conservation."
The zoo’s highest attendance was 669,928 in 1997, after the opening of a big exhibit.
"That was the Tropical American Rain Forest," Floyd said. "We really feel that the opening of Lost Kingdom will really help us to achieve new goals with attendance. It's going to be a really great guest experience."
The Lost Kingdom exhibit opens in 2017. The complex will house rare Asian species, such as Malayan tigers and red pandas.
