Best summer in 20 years!

We’re celebrating our most successful summer in more than 20 years!

Throughout the six-week school holidays a whopping 82,000 visitors passed through our turnstiles.   CEO Peter Suddock said: “It is fantastic news, we are delighted with the figures.    “Despite the unpredictable weather those numbers are 24,000 up on last year’s for the same period (58,000) and we are over the moon.”   He added: “We have to go back more than two decades to match those figures and given the current economic climate we really didn’t expect to see such an increase, but we are truly thrilled.  

“It’s our 75th anniversary and this is yet another success to celebrate.”

Staff have marked the anniversary with a series of new exhibits, including the launch of Penguin Bay a £40,000 walkthrough experience which allows visitors to get close to 70-plus rare Humboldt penguins, the UK’s largest parent-reared colony.   We have also welcomed two highly endangered young female tigers (one Amur, one Sumatran) and last month saw the re-launch of the country’s only vintage chairlift.   Mr Suddock said: “I’d like to say thank you to everyone who has supported us throughout the summer.   “We work very hard to ensure we are always in the public eye and we listen to our visitors and do our best to fulfil their requests, but above all our aim is to make sure everyone has a great day out at Dudley Zoo.”  

CAPTION: CEO Peter Suddock celebrates our most successful summer for more than 20 years.