KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After nearly a year of being closed, the sea lion exhibit at the Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium is back open for guests to enjoy.
The zoo spent around $4 million to upgrade the exhibit, but supply issues caused zoo leaders to delay the reopening until now.
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They built the sea lion pool back in the 1950s, and while they upgraded the filtration system a decade ago, the seats were starting to crumble.
To make it ADA compliant, they redid all the seating, and they repainted everything. They also expanded the sea lion holding pen to twice as big as before to give the animals and trainers more room to work.
The Kansas City Zoo cares for four sea lions; three of them are rescues. Leaders said upgrading exhibits like these is important to keep the zoo updated and fresh.
“You’re always looking to make sure to have an exhibit that’s great for the animal, but also great for the people, and we’re constantly looking for what we can do next,” Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium Director Sean Putney said.