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RELATED LINKS: Upgraded enclosure opens at Zoo ALONG with the opening of an upgraded meerkat enclosure, complete with heated night room, seven new meerkats have been introduced to the Johannesburg Zoo. Read more Zoo keeps them coming THE Joburg Zoo is celebrating - there have been more births and more visitors in the past year, and profits are up. Read more Programme to preserve wattled cranes set up A FULLY equipped chick-rearing home has been opened to breed wattled cranes, one of five critically endangered birds in South Africa, at the Johannesburg Zoo. Read more Zoo takes to breeding frogs IN a bid to save endangered species, the Johannesburg Zoo has teamed up with an international organisation on a frog-breeding programme. Read more

Kids and their parents on zoo's agenda A new strategy targeting young children and their parents is part of the Johannesburg Zoo's plans to boost its visitor numbers even further. December 22, 2006 By Michael Tsingo WITH 400 000 visitors in the past financial year, the zoo has proved to be the place to be for leisure and for special events in the heart of nature, yet in the middle of Africa's economic powerhouse. And in October a new strategy was launched to make the zoo the most attractive entertainment venue for children as young as three years and their parents. "The new strategy, launched in October this year, is aimed at making the zoo not only a fun place to visit, but also at providing a special treat too - targeting the three to 12-year-olds and parents aged 25 to 40," explains the City's communications officer, Cecile Retief. More than 400 000 people visited the zoo in the past financial year Included in the strategy is an energetic promotion of the zoo. It involves hosting functions, direct marketing, posters, online information, zoo billboards, broadcast messages and SMS messages. "The zoo is going to build on this by focusing on functions for special events, year-end, birthdays, athletic school groups, company functions and other similar events," Retief says. It has been strengthened by the many new animals that have found homes at the zoo, including some of the country's most endangered frogs. Its frog conservation project, which focuses on breeding severely threatened frog species, joins five new animal enclosures, where venomous snakes can be seen for the first time, and a wattled crane chick, the first hatched and reared in captivity. In September the zoo opened a chick-rearing home to breed wattled cranes, one of five critically endangered birds in South Africa. Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as: Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za)"; If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original article on this website; The name of the article's author is acknowledged; The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill in this brief online form). Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 Print this Page E-mail this article to a friend Help using Joburg.org.za