MADISON, Wis. -- A giraffe exhibit opened at Madison's Henry Vilas Zoo on Tuesday, but not everyone is happy that the zoo again has giraffes after two died there last year.

After standing vacant for nearly a year, the exhibit now features the first two of three new male reticulated giraffes.

Already 6-year-old Zawadi and 5-year-old Sweta are huge hits at the zoo.

"Yeah, they look really nice," said Andrew Edmonds of Beloit.

"They're looking at me right now. I like the spots on them," said Katie Frye, 5, at the exhibit.

But not everyone is thrilled that the species has been reintroduced at the zoo. The exhibit comes nine months after the zoo's last giraffe died.

Raymond Junior, a 7-year-old giraffe that went by RJ, had degenerative bone and joint disease and was euthanized after he could no longer stand, WISC-TV reported.

A month before, his 12-year-old father Raymond died of similar problems. And the 11-year-old mother Savanna fell and broke her neck three years before that. Normally giraffes can live 18 or 19 years in the wild, experts said.

Some animal rights activists said giraffes don't belong at the zoo.

"You can only look at them and know that they're made to take very long strides, and perhaps, even run across the savannah. And you're going to put those animals in a concrete pen, keep them there throughout their entire lives so people can come and look at them for a few minutes at a time? That's just not right," said Rick Bogles, Alliance for Animals board member and founder of the Primate Freedom Project.

But zoo director Jim Hubing said a $250,000 upgrade gives the giraffes safe and comfortable digs, which include heated floors, larger, insulated holding areas and better ventilation.

There's also slightly larger renovated outdoor yard with new soil and grass and a new concrete pad where they stand to feed, WISC-TV reported.

"We feel now with the new facility and its significant upgrade that they'll have a great chance of having a long and happy life here," Hubing said.

Two of the giraffes are from a Colorado zoo. A third will arrive in two weeks from a zoo in Buffalo, New York.

Hubing said visitor demand prompted the search, but at least one of those visitors said that she hopes the giraffes to have space to roam in the near future.

There's limited room at the zoo, which has caused problems before, WISC-TV reported.

Several years ago, a too-small elephant space and confinement by chaining prompted an outcry and that exhibit was permanently shut down by the zoo. There is no plan to bring the elephants back.

A fund-raising effort by the zoological society is under way to pay for the improvements to the giraffe exhibit.