Granby Zoo launches 65th season
The sun was out for the launch of the 2018 season at the Granby Zoo on Friday. Although the tourist attraction opened to the public with its summer hours starting at the end of May, the 65th year of operation for the zoo kicked off officially on Friday morning with a grand celebration to which more than 200 guests were invited.
“It’s party time,” said Paul Gosselin, the zoo’s general manager, stating that the season represents the hard work of the full team of employees.
Riding the wave of a record breaking attendance level of more than 700,000 people in 2017, Gosselin said that the zoo team is working hard to improve visitors’ experiences and draw even larger crowds.
“Last year was a record attendance, so we’re aiming to do that again,” the manager said, specifying that he’d like to see as many as 760,000 people come over the course of this year.
To help reach that goal, the zoo is doubling down on last year’s opening of the “dinozoo”, a small circuit featuring life-sized, animatronic dinosaurs.
“We’re coming back again with three new technological experiences,” Gosselin said.
The first, entitled “Dinotransfo” is an interactive video experience based on the technology of the x-box kinect. Stepping inside a large box near the entrance of the zoo, visitors have the opportunity to see themselves transformed into different kinds of dinosaur based on a quick questionnaire.
The second addition is an interactive touch screen table in the zoo’s discovery hut where visitors can learn a wealth of information about dinosaurs from all over the world.
The third is an augmented reality game in the style of “Pokemon Go” that uses a mobile application people can download onto their phone. The app allows zoo visitors to collect digital eggs from 18 different locations spread throughout the park. The eggs people collect can then be hatched at a special station in the Dinozoo area.
“It is very interactive and it is very, very fun,” Gosselin said.
Asked about how the zoo plans to handle growth and improvements over the years to come, Gosselin said that the park has been in the process of strategically purchasing nearby properties to build new parking areas and free up space on the current property for future development. While not giving away any specifics, he hinted that there would be further announcements on this subject later in the current season.