Great Plains Zoo’s new leader shares look at what’s ahead

If you’re ready to hear the roar of lions at the Great Plains Zoo, the new CEO is with you.

“I love the roar of the lions. I miss the roar of the lions,” said Becky Dewitz, who became the zoo’s new leader in October 2020.

She came from the Roosevelt Park Zoo in Minot, North Dakota, which has two lions and where she helped transform an outdated exhibit into “a beautiful new building for lions and tigers,” she said.

“To improve quality of life and see them exhibit their natural behavior, that is what fills my cup. You’re impacting the quality of your zoo for the betterment of the community and for the betterment of the animals.”

In Sioux Falls, she will have the chance to do both.

The Great Plains Zoo steadily has been adding exhibits and improving others for years, with some big projects on the horizon.

“We have exhibits that need attention and modernization, and those are all opportunities to forward progress our zoo,” Dewitz said.

Dewitz didn’t plan to go into zoo leadership. She’s an SDSU graduate who majored in hospitality and tourism, and thought maybe she’d run a restaurant.

She moved to Minot from Brookings in 2005 for an education coordinator role at the zoo, doing education programs and business management, “and I fell in love,” she said. “I can’t imagine doing anything different with my life.”

In Sioux Falls, she saw an opportunity to move closer to family and help lead a slightly larger zoo.

At the Great Plains Zoo, “the brown bear (exhibit) is very well done, and the rhinos are very well done,” she said. “I love rhinos, so I’m very excited to work with them.”

Zoos in general have changed how they look at exhibits and animal enrichment, she added.

“It’s building exhibits that meet their needs for their whole life,” she said, “and the conservation impact needs as well, in coordination with the Association of Zoos & Aquariums.”

Upcoming projects include a modernized black bear exhibit that will be more accommodating for Charlie the bear, who is aging and will benefit from modernized facilities that support his care.

“It’s a great opportunity to work on the front of the house on the actual exhibit and bring that forward and modernize and naturalize it while making it an enriching environment for all our black bears,” Dewitz said.

That’s about a nine-month project.

Also in the short term, the zoo is working on a pollinator exhibit that would allow for breeding a butterfly native to South Dakota that’s endangered.

Longer term, an $8 million expanded and renovated Africa exhibit has been funded and is starting design.

That will include bringing back the lions – a number to be determined – and enhanced areas for the giraffes and meerkats.

The giraffes and viewers will benefit from indoor space along with providing more year-round interaction with the public.

“I think we need to make it look like Africa, an immersive exhibit that inspires a connection to nature,” Dewitz said, noting that could come in the form of rock indigenous to the continent.

“I’m trying to remain extremely open-minded. You want to be a zoo for people of all ages and abilities. I look at exhibit design to make sure we have not just a visual experience but anything tactile – signs that move – and the auditory element with the lions especially.”

The construction is expected to start later next year with construction lasting about 18 months.

There also could be enhancements coming to the Hy-Vee Face-to-Face Farm, which focuses on families, including “some reimagining of the goat bridges,” Dewitz said.

“I think that’s what zoos do best. We get the opportunity to tell stories about the animals. The more we have the opportunity to tell our stories the more people get excited about the work we’re doing.”

That includes a stronger focus on animal training, meaning visitors will see trainers interacting more with animals.

“It’s not teaching a tiger to jump through a hoop, but it is teaching them to lay on a scale or present their side so we can give a vaccine,” Dewitz said. “It fosters a wonderful animal-to-keeper bond that teaches animals resiliency and trust.”

The attached Delbridge Museum of Natural History continues to be an attraction for visitors, Dewitz said.

“It’s a historical element within our community that a lot of people have pride and attachment to,” she said, adding the zoo recently did some fiberglass patching on the giraffe.

“He looks a lot better, but it is an aged collection, and we have to take care of it the best we can.”

What’s ahead

The zoo is taking this year as one to get “back to basics” because “everything was so strange with the pandemic,” while planning for the future, Dewitz said.

“Our zoo camps filled up faster than ever, which shows me people are eager and excited to come back,” she said.

Later this year, expect to see the zoo working through a longer range strategic plan, she said.

Some of the zoo’s earliest exhibits still date back to the early 1960s, such as the Prairie Cabin that houses raptors, eagles, hawks and invertebrates.

“I really want to focus on South Dakota nature,” Dewitz added. “We’re talking about animals we take care of internationally, but there are opportunities to talk about animals we have in our own backyard.”

She quotes international conservationist and forestry engineer Baba Dioum in expressing her philosophy on the zoo’s mission:

“In the end,. we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught.”

“That is the mission for the zoo in a nutshell,” Dewtiz said. “We are here to be advocates for these animals.”