"We opened back up this week and it's been great to welcome customers back," he said, with the zoo on the banks of the Shoalhaven River at North Nowra looking a picture for the reopening.

"This weekend will be our first full weekend since the restrictions eased and we are looking forward to visitor numbers building up to what is traditionally our really busy holiday period, especially over Christmas."

He said this last lockdown did not "affect the zoo as much as the first one".

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"It hasn't really had a huge effect on us this time, other than we weren't able to open to the public," he said.

"I think also we were far more prepared this time.

"Although it has been unusual - usually the zoo is only closed one day a year, Christmas Day.

"This is the first time in the 50-year history of the zoo that we have been closed for months on end.

"But it has been business as usual for us really - we are still there tending and looking after the animals. It's just been really quiet without customers in the complex."

Nick and his wife and three children live on site at the zoo and said they definitely noticed the lack of customers.

"Just that usual activity, the noise, the movement was missing and that was strange," he said.

Even though it has been quiet, Mr Schilko said it has been a busy time with a number of "new arrivals" across the zoo.

And stay tuned for some exciting announcements in coming weeks of a "number of new exotic additions" to be added to the zoo.

Mr Schilko praised the efforts of his staff, who "throughout it all have continued to put the animals number one".

"The staff have been fantastic and a huge shout out to them," he said.

"We are only a relatively small staff and they haven't had a break for so long. No one's gone on holidays, there was nowhere to go anyway.

"They are just so committed and we are appreciative of that. They have faced some tough things over the past few years, bushfires, three separate floods, the lion incident which really affected some and then COVID. But through it all they have kept going."

As for the animals he said some species might have noticed the lack of interaction with the regular roll up of customers.

"I don't think the lack of contact has had a huge effect on the animals," he said.

"Our staff are trained and have been interacting with the animals. It may happen that certain species are more affected - those who perhaps interact with the public more.

"But I suppose the beauty of Shoalhaven Zoo is that we don't have thousands of visitors a day as some of the other bigger zoos do, and I suppose their animals would notice it more. It's not as an extreme problem here."

Mr Schilko said the zoo's first week of reopening had been "solid".

"We had about the usual amount of visitors that we would usually have at this time of the year," he said.

"People are booking and want to book in school excursions and experiences, with the meerkats, marmosets and lions, while visits that had to be rescheduled due to the restrictions are also being rescheduled.

"We're hoping this weekend our numbers will continue to be around what we would normally have at this time of the year.

"It's going to be great to be fully reopened, something we have been looking forward to.

"I don't think it will be anything as crazy as when we reopened last time.

"I think it will be a little slower - people at this time are usually starting to concentrate on Christmas shopping and have Chrstmas parties coming up.

"This time of the year is usually a bit slower for us anyway - our busiest week by far is the week after Boxing Day and as long as there are no further restrictions I would say it will be the same again."

He's hoping locals will again come and support the business.

"Locals visiting is a big part of our business," he said.

"I hope they continue to support us. It has been great this week to see many of the young mums back with their kids, something we have definitely missed.

"And I think they have missed it too - somewhere for the kids to run around, burn off that energy while mums can have a relaxing morning in the cafe, having a coffee or catching up."

He praised the government's efforts with business support and the Dine and Discover vouchers.

"As I said lock down hasn't had that big of effect on our finances," he said.

"We were well supported with wages, which was a big one from the government and it certainly helped a lot. We also had some savings put aside.

"But the vouchers are a great initiative and people have used them. I can't fault the support of the government."