New butterfly exhibit opens at San Antonio Zoo

SAN ANTONIO – Just in time for Spring Break, the San Antonio Zoo has opened its John and Greli Less Butterfly Rainforest exhibit.

Guests can walk through the greenhouse, kept around 75 to 85 degrees, for some of their exotic butterflies from Central and South America.

The zoo asks guests to be careful while exploring the exhibit and watch to where they step. The butterflies may also land on you and flutter right in front of your face.

The interactive exhibit features 43 exotic butterfly species and three native species, with about 500 butterflies fluttering around. The goal is to eventually house up to 1,000 butterflies.

The mission of the new exhibit is to promote education on the importance of pollinators, the role they play locally and globally in helping pollinate and produce vegetation, and how they keep ecosystems balanced.

Every Friday, the San Antonio Zoo gets in a new chrysalis shipment that emerges a few days after arriving.

A residential sloth also sleeps and hangs around inside the exhibit. He has not been named yet, but you can nominate your name for the sloth here.

The exhibit costs $4, in addition to a ticket to the San Antonio Zoo.

Children under the age of 3 get in free. The exhibit will be open for Spring Break this week from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and regular hours will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.