Calgary Zoo memberships rise since panda arrival

It appears ‘panda-monium’ is already paying off in spades for the Calgary Zoo.

During the first couple of days of Panda Passage being open, between 2,500 and 2,800 guests made their way to the park to see the four giant pandas on loan from China, which is just above average for this time of year.

According to Zoo Spokesperson Trish Exton-Parder, where the pandas have really paid off so far, is in membership sales.

“During the month of April alone we had a record in how many memberships we sold, folks that knew there would be a bit of a sneak-peek, and that was 16,000 memberships, which was crazy,” she said.

Meanwhile, more than 36,000 people took advantage of sneak-peek, seeing the bears the week before the exhibit opened.

Exton-Parder believes this weekend will be packed, estimating up to 10,000 people per day.

“There is a way that you can do time ticketing ahead of time if you go on our website,” she said.

There you can pick your date and time for Panda Passage, to help get you in more quickly.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today