Season ahead bring new additions, construction progress for Great Plains Zoo

Visitors to the Great Plains Zoo this season will have a new exhibit to visit, new foods to sample and the chance to watch the facility’s future taking shape.

The butterfly garden is framed up at the zoo’s entrance, on schedule for an early 2027 opening.

It’s not much larger overall than the garden at Sertoma Park that it will replace, but it will be “much larger in height, to really create what I think is a uniquely Sioux Falls butterfly garden experience,” Sioux Falls Zoo & Aquarium CEO Becky Dewitz said. “We have so many different design aspects to that experience that really stand out.”

A waterfall will be made out of Sioux quartzite, “so it’s our little miniature Falls Park,” Dewitz said.

A “tree of life” in the center will be crafted by Mitchell-based artist Clark Martinek, who is bending raw iron to wrap it and create a treelike look of bark, branches and roots.

“The fact we can have a piece of art in the middle of our butterfly garden made by someone in the region … I can dream these things come together, but when they actually do, it’s a delight,” Dewitz said.

“You’ll be able to see the whole structure from Kiwanis (Avenue), which is really changing even just our boulevard presence, and sometimes you can’t plan it — it’s just a win when it comes together like that.”

Weddings already are being booked for 2027, and the venue will be an option for other events.

In the meantime, visitors this season still will find new additions.

The renovated red wolf exhibit opened late last year, bringing a new habitat for the critically endangered species.

“We’re all dedicated to conservation breeding to save this animal from extinction,” Dewitz said. “The habitat turned out great.”

The parents and their five offspring, now 3-year-olds, share a space that is deliberately set back a bit from public view, “so they have the ability to retreat and create separation between human and animal,” she continued. “That’s an animal we don’t want to acclimate to humans.”

The two yards can adjoin into one or be separated during breeding or with a family pack.

The season also will bring an adjusted schedule for zookeeper chats and giraffe feeding, moving them from a daily schedule to one that runs Friday through Monday but brings more opportunities to participate each day.

The popular Bubbles on the Plaza will move to near the zoo farm to ease congestion during construction.

Adult nights will shift to later in the season in August, September and October and become extended zoo days that don’t require an additional event ticket.

Expanded food and beverage options this year will include chocolate-dipped frozen bananas, served plain or with nuts or sprinkles. Find them near the Denny Sanford Family Splash Pad or order them from the zoo’s cafe via QR code.

Zoo attendance was down 10 percent last year compared with 2024 but up 20 percent from 2023. In 2024, visitors were lured by the new lion and meerkat exhibit and the debut of the splash pad.

“Discretionary (spending) is something we’re mindful of as well as weather,” Dewitz said.

“April was not a great month because every weekend we had weather. March was strong, and we had great weather. Presidents Day weekend was beautiful, and we had over 7,000 people. So weather is a factor we’re definitely cognizant of and that goes back to the greater goal we’re planning of a year-round destination insulated from these impacts.”

Looking ahead, construction on the aquarium will start as soon as fundraising goals are met, followed by the Joe H. Floyd Education Center. Sioux Falls Zoo & Aquarium has raised $46.7 million so far, including $25 million from philanthropist Denny Sanford, and when the effort reaches $50 million, he will add $10 million. The target goal to fund all improvements is $73 million.

Once the $50 million milestone is met, bids can go out for the aquarium portion of the project. The hope is to start construction later this year or early next year, which then leads to more than two years of construction.

Next year also will bring a new addition with faster impact: An expanded new yard for giraffes is planned for construction to allow for giraffe viewing near the splash pad and carousel, better meeting modern zoological standards and supporting the zoo’s goal of ongoing accreditation.