No Sun? Many Head to Zoo

SWAINTON – Are gloomy days the bane of a vacation? Not if the youngsters don’t mind watching a lion, tiger, bears, zebras, giraffes, snakes galore, rare Chinese alligators and a whole lot more.
The number one free, non-beach destination in Cape May County is the County Park and Zoo on Route 9 here. The attraction is marking its 35th anniversary.
When heavy clouds shroud the sun, and beach tags just won’t work, an ever-increasing throng finds its way to the offshore attraction that virtually every visitor recalls, regardless where they call home.
According to a main gate tally at the park, to date, 254,994 visitors passed through. That is only for the Route 9 entrance and does not include the rear Court House-Dennisville Road entrance, according to Lenora Boninfante, county communications director.
On those especially “non-beach days” when gray clouds roll across the peninsula and the tanning index is perhaps a minus 3, parking spaces at the zoo are at a premium. Virtually every space capable of squeezing in a car or van is taken. When that happens, the east side of Route 9, where tennis and basketball courts, baseball field and soccer fields are located, is pressed into service for overflow parking.
On a day when that situation occurs, there can be no accurate count of visitors, thus they are not included in the above count, and hence the total could be somewhat greater.
Garden State Parkway construction of overpasses, including one at Exit 11, Crest Haven Road, is possibly the reason why the tally is down from previous years at the front booth. Crest Haven Road, links the parkway and Route 9. It was closed for construction a full month from late June and three weeks in July, Boninfante reported.
That closure has impacted donations somewhat.
“In June we were down about $29,000 and July was down about $3,000. Donations to date are $439,000,” she stated.
Summer hours are daily from 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.
The 85-acre zoo features over 250 species and over 500 animals that call the zoo home.
The zoo welcomed four Chinese Alligators, one male and three females, from the St. Augustine Alligator Farm in St. Augustine, Fla. on June 26. Chinese alligators are a smaller member of the crocodilian family, with adults rarely exceeding six feet. They are a critically endangered species found in the swamplands along the lower Yangtze River in China.
In addition to the Chinese Alligators, visitors to the zoo can see the latest snow leopard cubs born to Himani and Vijay April 20. With the two new cubs, the zoo is home to four snow leopards.
While admission to the Park and Zoo is free, usage of the picnic shelters, wedding gazebo, and groups visiting by bus or passenger vans are required to pay a fee and make a reservation.