The Denver City Council on Monday approved the Denver Zoo’s latest request to increase admission fees, in part to cover operational costs that zoo officials say have risen by 28 percent in four years.
Starting soon, zoo tickets will cost $2 to $3 more for visitors. Those increases, approved by the council in a block vote, will bring the cost to $20 for those 12 and older, to $14 for children younger than 12 and to $17 for people 65 and older. Children younger than 3 still will get in free.
Winter admission fees, which apply November through February, are lower but also will rise by $1 to $2, depending on the age group. The zoo also won approval for increases to various rental fees on the City Park campus, and it says the money will cover higher costs for animal welfare and nutrition, maintenance of zoo facilities and staff compensation.
Zoo officials said last month that the higher fees were projected to raise $1.5 million in the next year, boosting the annual $41.5 million budget by 3.7 percent. The last increase to admission fees was in 2014.
Here is an earlier presentation given by zoo officials: