BATON ROUGE - BREC'S Baton Rouge Zoo is nearing completion on several projects to improve attractions and bring in more animals. 

Zoo director Jim Fleshman said renovations that started in the beginning of 2021 are almost finished.

New exhibits for bison, hippos and giraffes are completed. Fleshman said the male Bison are from the Yellowstone herd and the females are from the Wind Cave herd. Zoogoers get to view hippos in their new water exhibit and the giraffes got a new sanctuary with all the grass they can eat.

Along with animal attractions, the zoo has updated spaces for events. Marnita Blount and her niece Alaina Carper got to enjoy the new birthday party venue on Saturday. 

"It was awesome, it was amazing. They supplied everything, it was so much fun. And we got to meet some of the ambassador animals and got to pet some of them. They were really cool," Blount said.

Fleshman said the zoo is still working to revitalize its entrance. The zoo was hoping to open it up in May, but ran into some delays with fiber optics.

The current entrance off of Thomas Road will be converted into a service area.

For more information about the renovations, click here.