Great Plains Zoo offers updated look at new lion exhibit

The new lion exhibit at the Great Plains Zoo breaks ground today — as its final designs are released.

At more than 27,000 square feet, it’s a multiuse exhibit that includes a variety of indoor and outdoor spaces, bringing lions back to the Great Plains Zoo for the first time in 30 years.

Project design was done by TSP and Ackerman-Estvold. Lloyd Cos. is the general contractor.

“The exhibit was very well designed in terms of beginning-of-life to end-of-life considerations as it’s set up for the whole life and well-being of the animals,” CEO Becky Dewitz said. “There’s a lot of flexibility we built into the design.”

The lions will be located by the rhinos and the zoo’s cafe, with a new pedestrian route alongside the cafe.

A large viewing area will include a mud hut, so the zoo’s staff can teach about indigenous people who live among lions and how the two live in balance.

The other yard is a themed area with Tanzanian-style Kopje rock, common in the African landscape, “and we built a Kopje tunnel, and we have a very large Kopje feature where pedestrians can go through the tunnel and have glass viewing, so people can have a different type of experience and engagement with the lions that has not been done here before,” Dewitz said.

For the animals, the goal is to maximize their ability to be outside, including in the winter. That means outdoor areas with roofs and heaters even if the lions might not be on public view all year.

The exhibit includes a building that’s more than 7,000 square feet and includes a keeper office, bedroom space for the animals and indoor exhibit space.

Heated rocks near the windows could encourage the lions to do some up-close visits with guests.

A day room can be subdivided, giving zoo staff a lot of options depending on how many lions ultimately call Sioux Falls home.

“I feel like this exhibit is going to showcase modern zoological practices and principles that’s going to be really exciting for our community,” Dewitz said.

“We specifically designed the exhibit where we can do animal behavioral training, demonstrations where patrons can see how these animals are so intelligent and how they can participate in their wellness program.”

She’s working with the American Zoological Association’s lion coordinator to determine which animals might be available when the exhibit opens around this time next year.

The new exhibit is designed to accommodate a full pride of lions — with six bedrooms and theoretically room to house even a couple more.

“There’s a lot of male lions in the AZA system, a lot of bachelor groups, so we have to determine what is the need with the AZA,” Dewitz said, adding that also can change over time.

“They’re just majestic and regal,” she said. “I’m very excited.”

Additionally, the new exhibit will be a new home for the zoo’s four meerkats and offer indoor-outdoor space for up to seven of them.

“They need space,” Dewitz said.

While there won’t be too many impacts from the lion construction because it’s on the perimeter of the zoo, the train won’t be able to run this season.

The lion and meerkat exhibit is one of multiple construction projects this season at the zoo. An sewer improvement project near the penguins is scheduled to wrap up before the end of May, when the penguin exhibit will reopen.

Once the busiest part of the season is over, construction will start on a new privately donated splash pad near the black bear exhibit and Face-to-Face Farm. It’s scheduled to open next year.

Great Plains Zoo plans year of projects — including future splash pad