Officials at the Calgary Zoo say they’ve reached a special landmark in the history of the facility as their 100,000th member was signed up on Friday.

Susan Mendes was heading into the facility in the morning to renew their memberships when they were greeted by a group of zoo employees all decked out in their finest panda outfits. They were then told that they were the lucky winners.

“It was a great way to start the day,” Mendes said.

She says that coming to the zoo is important for her kids and being a member makes the trip worthwhile every time.

“I think that from the perspective of our children, if you don’t know about something, you can’t help protect it. So we think it’s important for our kids to know about the animals that are around us but also those internationally and those that are endangered and might need help.”

Trish Exton-Pardner, spokesperson for the Calgary Zoo, says that it’s always encouraging for them to see people sign up as members.

“Being a member is telling us that you want to be a bigger part of the zoo. You want to come more often, support our programs and you’ve acknowledged that the Calgary Zoo is a charitable organization and needs help.”

She says that membership sales and guests have never been higher at the facility, and they have some black and white bears to thank for most of the crowds.

“The crowds keep coming in. We’ve been able to manage lineups really well and it’s just been really wonderful watching the different groups celebrate pandas, learning about the conservation program that we’re contributing to and, hopefully, having young pandas in the future here too.”

Mendes adds that there is always something new to see and do at the Calgary Zoo.

“The exhibits are always changing. This year it’s the pandas but the lemurs have been interesting as well. There’s always something new to see. You never seem to quite make it through all of the zoo but we pick a different section each time we come.”

Since the pandas arrived in May, the zoo says they’ve sold 25,000 more memberships than previous years.

They’re also looking to break an attendance record. The goal is 1.5M annual visitors and right now, the count is at about 1.1M.