Visitors to The Buffalo Zoo will be paying a bit more from now on. The zoo has announced it is raising its admission prices by $1.50 for patrons over the age of two.
Regular admission is going from $10.50 to $12. Kids and seniors will pay $9 and $10, respectively, as of next Tuesday.
The reason for the hike? The Zoo's new $14 million Arctic Edge exhibit, which opens to the public on September 12. Zoo president Donna Fernandes says operating costs related to Arctic Edge are directly responsible for the higher admission prices.
"When we bring Arctic Edge online, it's four new animal exhibits and the new standards for maintaining polar bears require a lot more expensive husbandry and water treatments. So we'll be using a lot more energy to clean the water," Fernandes told WBFO.
Fernandes says utility and water treatment costs for the new exhibit will cost between $50,000 and $60,000 a year. Around 150,000 gallons of water require treatment. The zoo has also hired an additional engineer to maintain the exhibit, which will house polar bears, grey wolves, lynx and bald eagles.
"We haven't raised rates in a number of years. We knew this was coming and we felt that this was the time to do it," Fernandes said.
Fernandes says despite the admission hike, the zoo is still competitively priced compared to other regional family attractions.
