GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — The John Ball Zoo will open for the season on Saturday.
Guests will get to see most of the zoo’s more than 1,500 animals including the tigers, chimpanzees, bobcats, grizzly bear and penguins.
A few upgrades to the zoo are scheduled to start later this spring after Kent County voters approved the zoo and museum millage in November.
“Given that the Kent County citizens were kind enough to pass the millage this last year, we’re starting to use that investment in the site so people will start see that at the zoo,” said Andy McIntyre, the chief operating officer at John Ball Zoo.
The black-footed cats will get a new outside area in the former alligator exhibit and the monarch butterfly exhibit will be expanded to house more species of Michigan butterflies. The zoo also plans to build a new staging area for a professional bird show, “Realm of Flight,” which will open on Memorial Day weekend.
The zoo will be open from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets cost $7 for anyone ages 13-61; $6 for kids ages 2-12 and adults 61 and above; children 1 and under are free. The admission rates will increase starting April 29.