Zoo records its 200,000th visitor for 2005 season
Congratulating young Rachel Eelman, the 200,000th visitor of the 2005 season to the Turtle Back Zoo in South Mountain Reservation, is County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr., right, who joins the rest of the Eelman family, from left, mother Jennifer, Rachel, brother Christopher and father Mike.
ESSEX COUNTY, NJ - Wolves and cougars and bears, oh my!
Those are just a few of the animals that call the Essex County Turtle Back Zoo in West Orange home. But penguins are 5-year-old Rachel Eelman's favorite.
"I like them because they're funny," Rachel said, pointing out that watching the penguins' walk is really what she finds amusing.
Rachel, of North Haledon, was the 200,000th visitor at the zoo for 2005.
Her attendance marked a milestone for the zoo, which has not reached such patron totals since 1986, county officials said.
The shattering of the attendance record comes on the heels of three major improvements to the facility including the construction and opening of the black bear exhibit, featuring Jelly and Jam; the Essex Farm petting zoo; and the South American animal exhibit.
Construction is currently under way to refurbish the entryway and construct a reptile education center.
Both the petting zoo and the upcoming reptile center will make the zoo a year-round facility.
"This was a breakout year for Turtle Back Zoo," Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo said in a prepared statement. He also called welcoming the facility's 200,000th visitor a milestone in the zoo's history, as well as gratifying for the county.
"Rachel absolutely loves the zoo," her mother, Jennifer, said, noting that every time the kindergarten student visits her grandparents in Boonton, she asks to go to the Turtle Back Zoo.
"The penguins are always her first stop," Rachel's mother said.
Rachel said she also likes to check in with the wolves because they run around a lot.
"We had no idea that the zoo was even keeping track of people," she said.
According to zoo director Jeremy Goodman, following Rachel's Nov. 1 visit with her grandparents and younger brother Christopher, age 2, the zoo has already welcomed approximately 10,000 more patrons.
Goodman noted that zoos, unlike other recreational venues such as amusement parks, are always changing and offering new things to see and experience.
He also said that the attendance record is just another aspect of the resurgence and renaissance currently going on around the facility.
According to materials from the county, that total represents an increase over last year when about 180,000 visitors came to the Zoo.
"Next year, we're going to set our goals even higher," Goodman said.
To thank Rachel and her family for visiting the zoo, the county hosted a celebration of sorts, presenting Rachel and Christopher with a basket full of zoo-themed goodies, just in time for the holiday season.
Inside the basket were coloring books, T-shirts, stuffed animals, as well as a zoo membership and paperwork to adopt-a-penguin.
In addition to loving animals, Rachel takes ballet lessons and likes to draw, especially people.
When she grows up, she would like to be a teacher, she said.
