A big addition at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo will soon give visitors an even closer look at how animals there are cared for.

County Executive Ryan McMahon joined the zoo's director, and some camel friends, to break ground on the new Animal Health Center Thursday.

It'll replace the old facility, which couldn't really accommodate some of the zoo's bigger animals.

The director says it's all about showing people what goes into the animals' health and wellbeing.

"People can come into the new facility, they can look into the surgery suite and into the treatment rooms, into the commissary where they make the animals' diets, the intensive care unit, there'll be a small classroom for education staff," said Rosamond Gifford Zoo director Ted Fox.

The larger facility will also allow more veterinary students from Cornell to learn there.

It's expected to be finished by next summer.