MEMPHIS, Tenn. — One of the Bluff City’s biggest attractions reopened to the public on Wednesday after being closed for two months.

When the gates at the Memphis Zoo opened at 9 a.m. sharp, people were already in line ready to visit with the animals inside.

“We want to see the gibbons,” said a group of teens who were waiting in line.

Adrienne Lance and her family also stopped by to see the gibbons, saying she was ready to get out of the house.

“We have haven’t left the house since it started. He has for work. This is their first time out.”

But, like everywhere else, there were some visible changes that greeted guests.

Barriers were arranged in front of the zoo entrance to help guide people to the gates. Stencils lined the sidewalks, pointing the way and there were even reminders to stay six feet apart.

Guests will now also be required to wear masks and pay with a debit or credit card or Apple Pay.

“We’ve tried to take as many precautions as possible opening up as safe as we can. So no outside food. That’s going to minimize outside contamination,” Nick Harmeier with the Memphis Zoo said.

Their main goal is to keep everyone who walks through those gates safe.

“The face coverings. The big part of the face coverings is to protect our guests, our team but also our animals who are unable to wear face masks.”

For the time being, the zoo can only operate at 25 percent capacity which means they are only allowed 2,500 guests a day.

Despite all the changes, zoo employees are hoping visitors will continue to come through their doors. They said the animals have also missed humans and are likely to be very excited to see some smiling faces.