PORTLAND (AP) — The Oregon Zoo broke an attendance record last year despite the recession and a winter storm in Portland that closed out 2008.

The zoo had nearly 1.6 million visitors last year, easily beating the previous record of just over 1.5 million visitors in 2007.

Holidays were big for the zoo, with record turnouts on Presidents Day, Labor Day and Thanksgiving.

The popular ZooLights display for Christmas had been on pace to set a record before a snow storm closed the zoo for nearly a week at the end of last month.