Giant Pandas set attendance records for Calgary Zoo

CALGARY (660 NEWS) – The Calgary Zoo has broken some all-time records for attendance in 2018 following the arrival of the Giant Pandas from the Toronto Zoo. The zoo set new records for attendance and memberships and set a new bar for releasing endangered animals back into the wild.

READ MORE: It’s finally here! Panda Passage opens at Calgary Zoo

The record-setting started when the Panda Passage was unveiled on May 7, according to Dr. Clement Lanthier, president and CEO of the Calgary Zoo.

“The main reason why we experienced so many people was because of the Giant Panda,” he said. Last summer we had a little bit of a challenge because of the “smoke from the wildfires in B.C.was affecting our attendance.”

The month the exhibit opened, over 190,000 visitors passed through the doors, setting a visitation record for the month. Then nearly 1.5 million people passed through the gates in 2018, smashing the previous attendance record of 1.45 million set in 2012. The introduction of the PandaCam, a live stream of the furry creatures nearly crashed the website due to all the visitors.

READ MORE: Pandas bringing in record numbers to Calgary Zoo

As for memberships, in the month of September they hit 100,000 members surpassing usual levels by 25 per cent.

Apart from attendance levels, the Zoo achieved a conservation milestone, releasing nearly 200 endangered animals into the wild. Among the animals that were released were the Vancouver Island Marmots, burrowing owls, greater sage-grouse, and fishers.

“One of our big goals is to reach the point where each year we are releasing more animals into the wild than we care for at the zoo,” Lanthier said.