SAN ANTONIO -- For one family from San Angelo, the San Antonio Zoo is the place to be ahead of a new school year.

"We've never been here and the kids absolutely love it," said Jennifer Wheeler, who brought her two girls to visit.

The Wheelers are already planning to come back - excited about a home makeover for the zoo's rhinos.

"Or as we call it, a 'Rhino-vation,'" said Chuck Cureau of the San Antonio Zoo. "We're gona add waterfall, mud wallow, a deck so guests can see it."　

The San Antonio Zoo was the first facility in America to successfully birth the endangered white rhino in 1972. They're hoping to kickstart a breeding program. A nursery and two new females will be part of the exhibit when it reopens.

"We'll eventually add a male with the hopes of some babies," Cureau said. 

The San Antonio Zoo is more than a hundred years old but the experience you get with this ticket now is much different than what you got just a few years ago.

"Zoos of the past were all about numbers. How many animals can we get into this facility," said Cureau. "People now want to come out and experience, have an experience with these animals. And that's part of our plan here."　

So far the zoo's spent $6 million in habitat improvement in recent years. The zoo opened its Savanna in 2015, making the giraffes and zebras feel more at home while letting guests get closer. Then it created Big Cat Alley.

"We took away the bars and we put a layer of glass between guests and animals so the people could safetly come nose to nose with lions," Cureau said.  　

As for the new rhinos, their new home will be ready to go in early next year.