Wild Center Welcomes 100,000th Visitor

New Museum Hits Major Milestone Ahead of First Anniversary

TUPPER LAKE, NY (06/19/2007)(readMedia)-- On Sunday, June 17, the Wild Center counted visitor number 100,000, putting the new Museum ahead of its original projections. Three-year-old Christina Maglione of Plattsburgh, NY was lucky visitor number 100,000 and received an assortment of gifts from Membership Manager Susan Arnold and a visit from the Museum’s otter mascot.

“We’re ahead of our expectations. This has been a great year for the Museum and we’re ready for the summer” said Stephanie Ratcliffe, Managing Director of The Wild Center. The Museum will mark its first anniversary with a major celebration July 4th that will feature a “Ceremony for the Birds” to mark the Museum’s Wings theme for 2007. The day will feature major recording stars Ralph Stanley & The Clinch Mountain Boys and Martin Sexton along with local musicians including The George Bailey Trio.

Here’s a look at The Wild Center, by the numbers, as it approaches its first anniversary.

1: number of current U.S. Presidential candidates to visit The Wild Center (Hillary Rodham Clinton, July 4, 2007)

2: number of times trout have spawned in the Wild Center’s Living River exhibit

5.8: number of times guided hikers on Wild Center trail walks would have walked from Tupper Lake to Los Angeles, California if all their miles were combined

5: number of fish taken from the Wild Center’s Blue Pond by the local resident wild Osprey

5,200: number of fish used to stock Blue Pond

190: number of photovoltaic solar panels that will generate power for the BioBuilding, the greenest building in the Adirondacks and the Wild Center’s first major facility addition

75: percent of the BioBuilding’s electric needs those solar panels will provide

20: number of countries that Wild Center visitors have come from

7,079,580: number of hits on wildcenter.org website since opening day

22: weight in pounds of peanut butter placed in Wild Center birdfeeders during Wild Winter Weekends

29.9: amount of time spent in Museum by all visitors to date, measured in years

96: number of different schools whose students have visited the Wild Center this year

240: pounds of fish eaten by Squeaker, one of three resident river otters

4: rank of Germany among nationalities of web visitors to wildcenter.org in last 30 days

3: rank of Canada among web visitors

2: rank of Australia among web visitors

276: pounds of beef consumed by Louie, one of three resident river otters

8,658: number of Wild Center logo shirts, hats, jackets and other items now being worn around the world

27,000: number of crickets consumed by the Wild Center’s resident reptiles and amphibians

200 million: age of fossil record for Lake Sturgeons, the Wild Center’s newest residents

1,156: number of trees planted for the Wild Center’s new Wings over the Adirondacks experience and other outdoor landscaping

Contact: Lela R. Katzman Full Spectrum Communications (518) 785-4416, fsclela@verizon.net

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