Oklahoma City, Thursday, 4 December 2025.
OKC Zoo drew 79,906 visitors last Wednesday for its busiest November ever, topping the 2024 mark of 76,246. Leadership attributes the jump to mild fall weather, popular seasonal programming and holiday events—notably Safari Lights—and a string of high‑profile animal births that generated both earned media and paid visitation. For mid‑size zoological operators and municipal partners, the spike illustrates the payoff of effective seasonal productization and conservation storytelling, but also highlights operational pressures: staffing, guest flow, and F&B/retail throughput during elevated shoulder‑season demand. Expect immediate lifts in admissions and ancillary revenue, plus richer data to reshape staffing models, event calendars and near‑term capital priorities for winter‑to‑spring programming. The case offers practical lessons on packaging events and baby‑story PR to extend visitation beyond summer, while underscoring the need for capacity management and back‑of‑house scaling. Measure seasonal KPIs to inform pricing and staffing.