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ROW #624 · LEG 92 ITEM 12 · BOUNDARY-PRINTED
No Osceola zoo drew a crowd or took an honor; the boundary zoo publishes its own count, printed dated, as the zoo gives it: 2010, 185,000; 2011, 198,000; 2012, 203,898; 2013, 205,758; 2014, 207,000 (the takeover year); 2015, 219,667; 2016, 232,125; 2017, 236,452; 2018, 207,384; 2019, 211,303; 2020, 188,000 (the season opened 14 June); 2021, 274,563 (the centennial year); 2022, 316,030; 2023, 351,628 (past the master plan's 350,000 goal); 2024, 361,626; 2025, 409,776 — the all-time record, confirmed as a record by the Tribune, with Zoo Luminate bringing, by the director's figure, more than 80,000 visitors beyond the daytime count. Two other tellings stand attributed, not merged: the director's round 220,000 reported in January 2020, before the table fixed 2019 at 211,303, with the zoo then South Bend's second most popular attraction; and the IEDC's 2018 claim of five-percent annual growth since 2004, printed as its claim. Before 2010 the zoo publishes no series in the sources reached — exact counting began at the 1981 gate. The honors of record are the accreditation honors, dated with their course: the Quarter Century Award (inaugural roll, January 2016) and the renewal granted 17 September 2025. No other dated honor stands in the record reached, and none is repeated from undated publicity.
Sources:
- South Bend zoo file, article “Attendance” — the zoo's published table, 2010–2025, observed November 2026; tax-board minutes, 22 January 2020; IEDC release, September 2018; Tribune, 2025–2026.