Dublin Zoo has record visitor year of 931,866

Walking tall: new giraffe says hello

DUBLIN ZOO reported a record number of visitors last year.

The zoo, which celebrated the new year with the birth of a baby giraffe on January 4th, attracted 931,866 visitors in 2008, 26,000 more than in 2007 which was in itself a record year. The zoo believes a baby boom last year helped it to record figures.

Some of the births last year included Budi, the first bull elephant in Ireland; Zukiszwa, the southern white rhinoceros calf in May and Sandsteen the giraffe, which was born in June.

Other draws in 2008 included the hatching of four Chilean flamingos, three maras, two yellow-backed chattering lories, six kune kune piglets, a leopard tortoise, a South American tapir and a pony.

Director of Dublin Zoo Leo Oosterweghel said having more than 900,000 visitors looked an “impossible” task when visitors were hovering around the 720,000 mark two years ago. “We had a spectacular year although August, which is our best month, was very wet,” he said.

The zoo is now looking for the public to choose a name for the new female giraffe. It says all suggested names for the new baby giraffe must have an African origin.