If you haven’t been to Roosevelt Park Zoo in Minot lately, it’s time to pay a visit.

There’s some spectacular new animal habitat to view plus seeing the beautifully maintained grounds of trees, plants and countless flowers.

The new African lions’ habitat allows an upclose view of these cats. Sometimes the lions will give visitors a chance to view them so close that you feel you can almost reach out and touch them. But don’t worry, there’s the safety of three-panes of thick safety glass between you and the cats. This habitat also has a Jeep parked partially inside the habitat with the seats of the vehicle extended outside. Visitors can hop into the Jeep and get the feel they are on a “safari” in African lion country.

The new Amur tiger habitat has plenty of room for the tigers to roam around and climb in a spectacular site where visitors can see them in good view.

The African lions’ habitat officially opened last fall. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held on Thursday to officially mark the opening of the Amur tiger habitat. The ceremony at 11 a.m. is open to anyone.

But there’s so much more to see in the zoo.

The giraffe habitat’s always a big hit among zoogoers along with the zebra, penguins, bongo and other animals native to Africa.

There’s so much more to see of zoo inhabitants native to areas around the world – birds in the aviary, the wolf woods, bison, otters, bear, red pandas, lemers and gibbons, kangaroos and llamas among the many.

The zoo’s staff spends much time with the feeding and care of all of them.

Grounds of the zoo are blooming with hundreds of flowers the Minot Park District’s Horitculture staff has been planting this season. The Minot Park District’s Forestry Department and Maintenance Department help take care of the grounds.

The zoo is a good place for you to get out and into the outdoors, walk down the pathways and enjoy Minot’s “gem” within the city.