Spending a day at the zoo is always exciting for kids and their families. It's a chance to see tigers, bears, monkeys, and more exotic animals all in one spot.

The Great Plains Zoo in Sioux Falls strives to provide a great experience for its visitors every day no matter the season. This includes giving guests opportunities to visit new animal friends and fun interactive attractions. Pretty soon, the Great Plains Zoo will welcome a new face to its family as well as give some bears a new home.

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Our friends at Pigeon 605 were able to get the exclusive story about what's to come at the Great Plains ZooGreat Plains Zoo CEO Becky Dewitz tells Pigeon 605 that guests can expect "an enhanced home for the black bears, a renovated Americas exhibit and a new bobcat." Fun Fact: This bobcat coming to the zoo is a rescue coming from a unique situation.

Bobby the bobcat is about to call the Great Plains Zoo home after he was illegally being kept as a house pet. That's one big kitty. "He came to us, and we really bonded well, and we decided to keep him and build him an exhibit,” explains Becky Dewitz to Pigeon 605. Bobby's new spot at the zoo will be located in the former anteater exhibit.

The Great Plains Zoo is also giving its three black bears a bigger and more advanced space. The new exhibit for the black bears is expected to open by the end of June. This new space includes a glass viewing area for a better visitor experience, new climbing structures for the bears, backyard space, and a new "bedroom" space for the bears.

Pigeon 605 (with permission)
Pigeon 605 (with permission)
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One other area of the Great Plains Zoo that's getting a facelift is The Americas. Specifically the "creepy crawlers" area will go through some changes. This exhibit is set to feature animals from North America, South America, and Central America. "We have some of the animals that will be featured as animals we had behind the scenes, so now they will be in a public-facing exhibit. This has been driven by our zookeeper and animal care team. So it’s been a great internal project we’ve been working on, and the end result shows their care and pride in their work," stated Ms. Dewitz.

Pigeon 605 (with permission)
Pigeon 605 (with permission)
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Keep in mind: For now, the birds at the Great Plains Zoo will not be exhibited in public viewing spaces due to the outbreak of avian influenza.

Great Plains Zoo CEO Becky Dewitt also provided an exciting update about the new lion exhibit! You can read this exclusive update by clicking here.

Don't forget! You can get the latest Sioux Falls news when you "adopt a pigeon" with Pigeon 605.

South Dakota's Weird Exotic Animal Laws Are Amazing

Have an interesting pet or looking to get one? Check this out from South Dakota Exotic Animal Laws before you go trying to adopt one.

You will need a zoo permit to harbor a raccoon dog. That's a real species. It's a small wild dog with a black facial mask and long fur, native to the forests of Asia.

13 Times Sioux Falls Made it into a 'Jeopardy!' Question

If the world was divided into Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune people, I would be down for Jeopardy! all the way. It's a lot more fun, it makes me feel smart because I can retain lots of trivia, and I am a horrible speller. So Wheel is out, no whammies.

Recently I discovered (I mean wasted a lot of time on) a website that is an archive of clues that have been on Jeopardy!.

While digging around the archive, I wanted to find out how often Sioux Falls came up in a question (Answer) on the show. Since 1990 Sioux Falls has been part of a question or an answer 13 times.

Source: j-archive.com

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