Egypt's agriculture ministry has said that it is maintaining a fixed ticket price for entry to the Giza Zoo during official holidays and student field trips, state-owned MENA agency reported.
In official statements on Saturday, the Deputy Agriculture Minister for Animal Resources, Fisheries and Poultry Mona Mehrez said that the zoo’s ticket price is set at EGP 5 (around $0.28) during the week.
Several media outlets have reported that officials intend to raise ticket prices to around EGP 25 (approximately $1.40).
Mehrez said that there is a proposal to raise the price to EGP 25 for one day per week to be determined by a committee from the ministry, while maintaining the fixed price of EGP 5 for the rest of the week.
Mehrez elaborated that the revenue from the increased ticket price would be spent on developing the 127-year-old zoo.
Located near the west bank of the Nile on around 80 acres, the zoo was once one of the world's foremost zoological gardens, but has since fallen into dilapidation.
Over the years, animal rights advocates have repeatedly called for better animal care at the zoo, which hosts around 4,500 animals from 28 species.
According to zoo officials in 2017, the zoo is visited by around 1.5 million Egyptians and 200,000 foreigners yearly, with as many as 84,000 visitors a day during spring holidays.
Egypt has said that it has allocated EGP 35 million to develop zoos nationwide.
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