Des Moines lions are trading up. Blank Park Zoo is unveiling a new lion exhibit that gives its pride a home roughly three times larger than their previous digs, complete with rocks, grass, and even a model plane built into the landscape. Visitors can start exploring the new space on Thursday.
The zoo calls it the Marjorie A. Foster Lion Conservation Center, and according to KCCI, the finished habitat is three times larger than the previous enclosure. Blank Park Zoo's own announcement of the project describes it differently, saying the center will more than triple the zoo's space for African lions, according to Blank Park Zoo. Either way, the lions are getting dramatically more room to roam, along with features like elevation, shade and sunlight built in to improve conditions for the animals.
Anne Shimerdla, who is associated with the zoo, told KCCI the design process kept the animals front and center. She said the space was designed with the lions' well-being in mind. The habitat also gives guests three different ways to see the pride, per the zoo's earlier construction update, turning a single viewing spot into a more layered, immersive experience throughout the grounds.
An Airplane Hangar for the King of the Jungle
The theme running through the whole project is aviation. Blank Park Zoo's announcement describes an airplane hangar concept, with a real airplane built into the habitat that both guests and lions can interact with. The exhibit also includes two connected outdoor habitats designed to give the cats room to spread out and give visitors multiple immersive vantage points.
The zoo's habitats page notes the lions are moving out of the Tom and Jo Ghrist Great Cat Complex and into the new conservation center, a shift intended to free up space for both lions and tigers with the stated goal of successful breeding for both species. Shimerdla told KCCI the zoo plans to breed its lions and eventually have cubs born on site. The zoo has also brought in three new lions as part of the transition, KCCI reported.
The new center is designed to hold up to eight lions, according to Blank Park Zoo, and ties into the zoo's participation in the Association of Zoos & Aquariums' Species Survival Plan, which supports healthy, genetically diverse lion populations. The zoo says the project is meant to help it play a more prominent role in international breeding and species-management efforts going forward.
Part of a Larger, Years-Long Campaign
The lion habitat is the centerpiece of what KCCI's report describes as Blank Park Zoo's yearslong impact campaign, one the zoo says is meant to improve its conservation programs more broadly. Blank Park Zoo has called the Lion Conservation Center the first major new habitat built under that effort, known as Expand the Impact, which also includes a planned Big Cat exhibit and other upgrades for animals and visitors alike.
Cost estimates for the overall campaign have varied across reports. KCCI previously described it as an $18 million campaign, while the Business Record reported it as an $18.1 million improvement project. The zoo held a ceremonial groundbreaking for the lion center back in May 2025.
Also underway as part of the broader push is the zoo's Wild Iowa project, which KCCI reports will feature eagles, otters, bobcats and small aquariums. Blank Park Zoo's campaign materials describe those otters, eagles and bobcats as part of its rehabilitation programs, serving a zoo that says it draws roughly 500,000 visitors annually.
For comparison, other zoos around the country have invested heavily in reimagining their lion habitats in recent years. The Chicago Tribune reported that Lincoln Park Zoo unveiled a $41 million renovation, update and expansion of its lion house in 2021, underscoring how major cat habitats have become a focal point for zoos looking to modernize both animal welfare and visitor experience.
Back in Des Moines, the new exhibit officially opens to the public on Thursday, giving visitors their first look at the lions in their expanded, airplane-themed home.
