Rolling Hills Zoo was a popular place to be last week. According to the organization, a record number of visitors passed through the gates.

The zoo says that from Saturday, March 15th through Sunday, March 23rd they welcomed 5,633 visitors to the Zoo and Wildlife Museum. Many area students were on Spring break during the time period.

The Zoo celebrated with live animal encounters, visits with George the Giraffe, keeper talks, animal enrichment, giraffe feeding, crafts, and face painting throughout the nine-day celebration. Attendance exceeded Spring break attendance in 2009, the next highest, by over 4%.

“Our entire staff had been preparing for weeks, hoping to create a great experience”, said Vickee Spicer, Rolling Hills Zoo Marketing Director, “but you never know how people will respond. Luckily, all our hard work and promotion brought in a record crowd”.

The Zoo had done extensive marketing outside of the immediate region to help draw more visitors from outside the area, in co-operation with area hotels, and events with the Salina Symphony and Salina Community Theatre.