BATON ROUGE - As workers put the finishing touches on over three years worth of renovations, BREC'S Baton Rouge Zoo officials are hoping to top off the completed project by regaining something they lost.

"We're sort of on the outside looking in, and so now we're thinking we're at a point where we can be on the inside," zoo director Jim Fleshman said.

Later this month, Fleshman will travel to the mid-year Association of Zoos and Aquariums conference to find out if they've earned back their national accreditation. The prestigious title is given to only 10 percent of zoos in the United States and was pulled back in 2018.

"We had old exhibits. We still have some old exhibits, but we've gone through this renovation so we think we're in a prime spot to go ahead and reapply."

Losing accreditation happened in conjunction with the BREC Commission deciding to keep the zoo where it is and spend upwards of $40 million getting it up to snuff.

Since then, they've undergone a complete overhaul including a brand new entrance, hippo exhibit, and giraffe feeding station.

Fleshman says if they regain accreditation it will open doors to even more opportunities for improvements.

"It gives us a little more credibility and it makes it a little bit easier to get permits to move animals. It allows us to gain access to additional animals and animal programs that are within [the Association of Zoos and Aquariums]."

Fleshman hopes to add lion and gorilla exhibits in the near future.