Press Room: LAIR Leads the Los Angeles Zoo to Record Spring Attendance

Contact: Jason Jacobs, (323) 644-4273

Family with Big Bunny
The Los Angeles Zoo set an attendance record for the month of April with over 215,000 visitors. This is the highest attendance for the month of April in over 20 years. Much of the attendance can be attributed to the March 8th opening of the LAIR (Living Amphibians, Invertebrates, and Reptiles). The LAIR features over 60 species including Chinese giant salamanders, false gharial, bushmaster, Mexican giant horned lizards and green mambas. The LAIR has been heavily advertised on billboards, bus wraps, print, radio and television commercials starring LAIR residents such as Sonoran toads, Mexican giant horned lizards, radiated tortoises, and Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association Co-Chair Betty White and Trustee Slash.

“We are very pleased to see these numbers,” comments Zoo Director John Lewis, “all of our new features are a great investment for the future of Los Angeles. With every new exhibit we are able to provide over 1.6 million visitors each year with the opportunity to experience and connect with wildlife.”

Over the past decade, new features at the Zoo include the Entry Plaza, Children’s Discovery Center, Sea Life Cliffs, Campo Gorilla Reserve, Elephants of Asia, an environmentally friendly parking lot, the Tom Mankiewicz Conservation Carousel and the LAIR. The Rainforest of the
Americas, which will feature giant otter, tapir and harpy eagle, is scheduled to open during the
second half of 2013.

Find out more information about LAIR

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The Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens is located in Griffith Park at the junction of the Ventura (134) and Golden State (5) freeways.
For general information, call (323) 644-4200.