What's new at Virginia Zoo? More attractions. Higher prices.

NORFOLK

Next year, expect to pay as much as $3 more per ticket - up to $11 for an adult admission - for a trip to the Virginia Zoo.

While the price will rise, visitors can expect to spend about 45 minutes longer taking in numerous additions, spokeswoman Anne Vogt said.

The enhancements, many installed since 2008, include kangaroo and tortoise exhibits, lion cubs, rain gardens, restored wetlands, a train and an Asia exhibit, which is awaiting its inhabitants.

Improvements are planned for the veterinary hospital and an animal diet kitchen by 2014, which are necessary for the zoo's re-accreditation, executive director Greg Bockheim said. On the wish list, he said, is a renovation of the children's area that would add pony rides and a petting zoo through which visitors can walk.

Bockheim also envisions a campground based on a model he saw at the San Diego Zoo.

"Instead of going to the mountains to camp, people will be able to come to the zoo," he said.

The city and the Virginia Zoological Foundation cooperatively support the zoo and have invested nearly $20 million over the past three years, Bockheim said. Estimates on future plans will top $3 million. Most projects have been funded through donations from the foundation's capital campaign, Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim said.

City and zoo leaders hope the improvements will help attract about 500,000 visitors annually over the next two years. Last year, about 410,000 visitors came, Bockheim said.

The added features already seem to be paying dividends. Last year's attendance was a 25 percent increase over 2008. Zoo membership during the same period grew by 39 percent, according to Bockheim.

Despite the lagging economy, he said, the zoo is perceived as a good value and a fun family activity that's close to home.

"There are models that show that for every $1 in capital investment in your zoo, it generates $2.90 in returns to the community," Bockheim said, citing a 2009 study by George Mason University on the economic impact of zoo operations and construction spending in the country.

The zoo operates on a $3.8 million annual budget. Last year, it generated about $1.36 million in revenue. The zoo train has generated more than $400,000 since it opened in 2008, Vogt said.

A marketing campaign has been created to get businesses and organizations to use the zoo as a meeting and entertainment venue.

While the facility has suffered some unfavorable attention in recent years over the deaths of several animals, including a rhinoceros whose pen was not secured, a zebra that had a reaction to a rabies shot and a baby giraffe that didn't thrive, there have been dozens of births.

Among others, lions, bongos, another giraffe, Angolan pythons and six-banded armadillos were recently born. With the addition of the animals in the Asia exhibit, the zoo will boast more than 380 residents.

For information, visit www.virginiazoo.org or call (757) 441-2374.