Sometime within the next two weeks, a visitor to the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium is going to get an exuberant welcome from zoo officials armed with a big collection of gifts.

That's because for the first time in the 109-year history of the zoo, the Highland Park facility will welcome more than 1 million visitors in a single year.

Visitor No. 1,000,000 will receive a lifetime membership to the zoo, a $500 shopping spree at zoo gift shops, a behind-the-scenes zoo tour, a framed, limited edition polar bear portrait, a one-year subscription to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the chance to put a memory in the zoo's time capsule.

People who want to increase their chance of being the millionth visitor can go to www.pittsburghzoo.org to learn how many visitors have come through the entrance gate so far. Click on "countdown" in the "What's New?" section.

Last night the count was 989,617. Last weekend, when the weather was cold and rainy, there were about 1,000 visitors on Saturday and 800 on Sunday.

"This is really historically important," said Dr. Barbara Baker, president and chief executive officer of the zoo. "We are drawing a lot of people from the area, and the attendance figures speak to the support of the community."

The birth of two Amur tiger cubs, and the polar bears and otters in the Water's Edge exhibit, have drawn large numbers of visitors, as have the debuts of two young giraffes and African painted dogs. Conservation and education programs also boosted attendance.

"This year, more than 390,000 students participated in conservation and animal information classes here at the zoo" including Zoo Camp and outreach programs in schools, said Margie Marks, curator of conservation and education.

The Pittsburgh Zoo wants to become one of the top 10 zoos in the country, Dr. Baker said. The list includes the San Diego Zoo and the Bronx Zoo.

"Several years ago we researched the criteria needed to be a top 10 zoo," she said. "The criteria are challenging and include quality and variety of conservation and education programs, number of threatened and endangered species programs, the quality of exhibits and the milestone of at least one million visitors. We meet all of the criteria except for" that last one.

Zoo officials had earlier announced that the 167,640 zoo visitors in May was an all-time monthly high for attendance. Attendance from Jan. 1-May 31 was 299,000, which zoo officials had predicted would put them on track to reach the million mark this year.