COAL VALLEY, Ill. — Niabi Zoo is officially reopening for the 2021 season with special pandemic guidelines built to keep both guests and animals safe. The first day for members will be Saturday, April 10, and the general public is welcomed back on Sunday, April 11.
The zoo will be requiring face masks at all times, and tickets must be purchased ahead of time for everything at the facility, including admission, parking, train rides, animal feedings, and more.
Capacity will be limited inside of the zoo this season, so tickets will be for timed sessions - either 9am to noon, or noon to 3pm. The zoo will be open Monday through Sunday, through September 12, and Tuesday through Sunday from September 13 to October 31.
Tickets for opening Sunday are all sold out, but there are a few member spots open for Saturday, April 10. You can purchase all of your tickets here.
This season the zoo's biodiversity hall will be opened for the first time since 2019, bringing plenty of new animals for guests to enjoy. There will also be new enclosures, and some animals throughout the zoo have been moved around, to accommodate for the new Rhino expected sometime this year.
"We're super excited for our 2021 season," said Leanne Parker, the primary keeper for the biodiversity hall. One of the animals she's most excited for the public to meet are three of the zoo's new meerkats. "We've got four of them in this enclosure and three of them actually are new that people have never seen before, since we didn't get to open the hall last year."