Great Plains Zoo and Delbridge Museum

About Great Plains Zoo and Delbridge Museum

The Great Plains Zoo is a 45-acre zoo in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, that opened to the public on June 30, 1963. It's owned by the City of Sioux Falls, which holds the land, infrastructure, and grounds, while the nonprofit Zoological Society of Sioux Falls — established in 1957 — operates the facility and manages the animal collection. The zoo has been accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums continuously since 1991, and in 2016 the AZA gave it a Quarter Century Award marking 25 years of accreditation.

On January 1, 2023, Great Plains Zoo merged with the Butterfly House & Aquarium to form the Sioux Falls Zoo & Aquarium, which now operates across two campuses in the city: the Great Plains Zoo campus, home to animals from seven continents, and the Butterfly House & Aquarium campus, home to South Dakota's only public saltwater aquarium and tropical butterfly conservatory. The zoo's collection includes species such as African wild dogs, Amur tigers, snow leopards, red wolves, and reticulated giraffes, along with a lion pair, Simba and Amahle, introduced in a new exhibit in June 2024. Sioux Falls Zoo & Aquarium's education programs reached 57,000 participants in 2024.

The zoo formerly incorporated the Delbridge Museum of Natural History, a taxidermy collection that closed permanently in 2023.

History

South Dakota Senator Richard F. Pettigrew kept a few animal specimens on view in local parks from the 1880s through the 1930s, when the Sioux Falls Parks System took over and placed additional animals on permanent display in Sherman Park. The Zoological Society of Sioux Falls formed in 1957 and helped build the Great Plains Zoo, which opened on June 30, 1963.

Through the 1970s and 1980s the zoo added a Children's Zoo, the Black-footed Penguin Rookery, a Birds of Prey aviary, a Primate Complex, and a 10-acre North American Plains Exhibit. In 1984, the Delbridge Museum of Natural History joined the zoo through a donation of more than 150 mounted animals from the C.J. Delbridge family collection — a taxidermy collection assembled by a local trophy hunter over 40 years. The 1990s brought the Asian cat habitat, the Wild Dogs of America exhibit, the Australian Outback, Bear Canyon, and a Galapagos tortoise exhibit.

By 2005 the zoo faced crumbling infrastructure and financial strain that put it near closure. The city appointed Elizabeth Whealy as CEO and President that year, and in 2007 the Sioux Falls City Council approved a renovation plan. Over the following years the zoo completed roughly $14 million in projects, including a 2008 Asian Cat exhibit renovation and the 2013 Monkeys, Magic and More project, doubling its animal collection from about 500 to more than 1,000 animals and bringing in traveling exhibits. Whealy was removed from her position in 2020 following complaints about workplace conditions.

In August 2023, the Delbridge Museum of Natural History closed permanently after detectable levels of harmful chemicals were found originating from its taxidermy collections; the mounts are set to be deaccessioned. The zoo's master plan has also added the renovated Asian Cats exhibit (2008), the Hy-Vee Face-to-Face Farm (2009), a Rare Rhinos of Africa habitat (2010), a Japanese Macaque exhibit (2013, which won top honors for exhibit design in 2015), Fortress of the Bears (2018), and Walkabout Australia (2019). In June 2024, a new African lion exhibit opened featuring Simba, from the Detroit Zoo, and Amahle, from the National Zoological Park.

Exhibits and habitats

The zoo's Asian Cats exhibit, renovated in 2008, gives panoramic views of Amur tigers, snow leopards, and Pallas's cats. The Hy-Vee Face-to-Face Farm, built in 2009 from the former Children's Zoo, houses rare livestock breeds including San Clemente Island goats, African Pygmy goats, Nigerian Dwarf goats, alpacas, Jacob's sheep, and several chicken breeds. Rare Rhinos of Africa, opened in 2010, provides habitat and breeding facilities for the zoo's Eastern black rhinoceros.

The Japanese Macaque exhibit, opened in 2013 alongside a renovated entrance and the Chilean flamingo exhibit, gives snow monkeys 180-degree views from covered shelters and access to two water features; the Great Plains Zoo is one of just 13 U.S. zoos to keep snow monkeys, and the exhibit won Top Honors in exhibit design in 2015. Fortress of the Bears, a 2018 renovation of the older Bear Canyon habitat, is themed to Southeastern Alaska, home to the largest concentration of grizzly bears in North America. Walkabout Australia, added in 2019, renovated several yards into homes for red and eastern grey kangaroos, Bennett's wallabies, emus, New Guinea singing dogs, Bactrian camels, station-themed petting-enclosure sheep, and various Australian birds.

Other attractions on the Great Plains Zoo campus include a splash pad, a carousel, and a train that runs seasonally. On the Butterfly House & Aquarium campus, visitors can explore Indo-Pacific, Caribbean, and Atlantic coast habitats; the Under the Dock exhibit brings guests eye to eye with stingrays and nurse sharks; the Eastern Shore exhibit houses horseshoe crabs, spider crabs, and sea stars; and the Conservatory holds free-flying butterflies amid tropical plant life and a pond ecosystem.

Zoo staff note that animals may be off exhibit at any time for reasons tied to weather, health, or habitat moves: cold-sensitive species such as snow leopards, Amur tigers, and red pandas may be kept off exhibit on hot days, while giraffes, rhinos, and flamingos often move indoors during colder months.

Animal highlights

The zoo lists at least 41 species on its website, spanning African wild dogs, American bison, Amur tigers, Eastern black rhinoceros, Eastern bongo, Grevy's zebra, king vultures, lions, Pallas's cats, red wolves, reticulated giraffes, ring-tailed lemurs, snow leopards, and Japanese macaques, alongside reptiles such as painted turtles and veiled chameleons and aquatic species including horseshoe crabs, moray eels, and yellow stingrays. Since the 2005 renovation push, the zoo has doubled its collection from roughly 500 to more than 1,000 individual animals. The zoo's Japanese macaque troop is one of only 13 such groups held by U.S. zoos, and its Eastern black rhinoceros habitat supports a dedicated breeding program; a past resident, Komati, transferred to Disney's Animal Kingdom in 2023. Notable recent arrivals include the lion pair Simba and Amahle, introduced in 2024.

Conservation and programs

Conservation is central to the Sioux Falls Zoo & Aquarium's mission, pursued alongside the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The organization takes what it calls a "many hands" approach, prioritizing projects where staff effort can make a measurable difference, and its work is funded through donor gifts, visitor round-up donations, donation boxes, a dedicated percentage of admission revenue, and gift-shop items such as collector cards sold on site. Proceeds from those cards support programs for black-footed ferrets, bison, and native pollinators in South Dakota, along with snow leopards, black rhinos, and butterflies internationally.

The Sioux Falls Zoo & Aquarium is a member of multiple AZA SAFE (Saving Animals From Extinction) programs, which pool expertise across AZA-accredited institutions to focus on species most in need, building on established recovery plans and coordinated conservation engagement. July is marked at the zoo as "Wild About Wildlife Month."

Planning your visit

As listed on the zoo's website, the Great Plains Zoo campus is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with last admission at 4 p.m.; the Africa area closes at 4 p.m. daily, so lions, giraffes, and zebras may not be viewable after that time. The zoo stays open year-round except for New Year's Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day, though some animals may be off exhibit due to weather even when the zoo is open.

Discounted admission is available for seniors (60+), military members, and students with valid ID, with an additional $2 off per ticket for online purchases. Individual ride tickets for the train and carousel cost $3 each, or $15 for a six-ride pass. The Zoo & Aquarium for All program offers reduced admission to families enrolled in South Dakota's SNAP, TANF, or WIC programs. Children under 13 must be accompanied by an adult.

The Great Plains Zoo campus includes the Roar Café. Because ticketing, hours, and seasonal details can change, confirm current admission prices, hours, and accessibility options on the zoo's official website before visiting.