The Akron Zoo announced a $17 million expansion for a new exhibit, Wild Asia, featuring lions and tigers that will replace Tiger Valley and the Pride of Africa that will be on three acres of newly developed land.

The Pride of Africa and Wild Asia will be the largest expansion so far for the Akron Zoo and is set to open in the summer of 2019 and summer of 2020 respectively, according to the zoo’s website.

With these new exhibits, the main focus is to expand the habitats for the lions, tigers, gibbons, white storks and pygmy goats. There are also new animals being added, such as the Speke Gazelles.

More information about any new animals can be found on the Akron Zoo website.

The zoo also participates in forty-five Species Survival Plans, which are programs established by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to create assurance population of threatened and endangered species as a safeguard against their ultimate extinction in the wild.

Presently the Akron Zoo is home to two species survival plans for animals now extinct in the wild: the Silver Fulu, a fish native to Lake Victoria in Africa, and the Partula Snail, native to Tahiti. A large percent of these two species now call the Akron Zoo their home.

This new expansion will aim at creating a future for endangered African Lions by engaging the people of Northeast Ohio with the only successful African Lion conservation program in the South Rift Valley of Kenya, Rebuilding the Pride.

The Akron Zoo plans on expanding the J & K Wilber Express train ride, as well as the addition of a splash pad, which is a water play area meant to illustrate how water is acquired in villages across southern Africa.