Memphis Zoo

The Memphis Zoo is a zoo located in Midtown, Memphis, Tennessee, United States. It is home to more than 3,500 animals from over 500 different species. The zoo was created in April 1906 and has been a part of Overton Park for more than 100 years. The land for the zoo was set aside in 1888 and is owned by the City of Memphis.

Spanning 76 acres, the zoo uses about 55 acres for its exhibits. In 2008, it was named the "#1 Zoo in the U.S." by TripAdvisor, based on reviews from visitors. Since the early 1990s, the Memphis Zoo has spent over $77 million on renovation and new exhibits. The animals live in three main zones with 19 different exhibits, including places like Teton Trek, Northwest Passage, and China.

The Memphis Zoo is proudly accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, showing its commitment to caring for animals and educating the public.

History

The Memphis Zoo opened its doors on April 4, 1906, thanks to $1,200 from the Memphis Park Commission. Early buildings included Galloway Hall, named after Col. Robert Galloway, and the Carnivora Building for the zoo's first cats. The Elephant House opened in 1910 and is still used today for education, though the elephants moved to a new area called the African Veldt.

Throughout the years, the zoo has grown with many new exhibits. The Aquarium, completed in 1959, shows both fresh and salt water animals. The Herpetarium, built in 1960, houses snakes, alligators, lizards, and frogs. In 1993, Cat Country opened, featuring tigers, lions, and smaller cat-like animals together. Other popular exhibits include Animals of the Night for nighttime creatures, Once Upon A Farm for farm animals, and Primate Canyon for monkeys and apes. The zoo also had a special exhibit for giant pandas from 2003 to 2023. Today, the Memphis Zoo remains a favorite place for families to visit and learn about animals from around the world.

Exhibits

The Memphis Zoo has many modern exhibits that look like the animals' natural homes. Some of these exhibits include Once Upon A Farm, Cat Country, Primate Canyon, Dragon's Lair, Animals of the Night, Tropical Bird House, Herpetarium, Aquarium, African Veldt, Zambezi River Hippo Camp, China, Northwest Passage, and Teton Trek. Walking through all the exhibits is about 2 miles. The zoo offers trams that can take visitors around for a small fee, and there are also rides, a miniature train, gift shops, and places to eat. A children’s playground and picnic areas are also available. In winter, there is an ice-skating rink, and from March to October, visitors can ride camels and feed giraffes.

The zoo is divided into three main areas with a total of 19 different exhibits.

East zone

Teton Trek

This 4-acre exhibit opened in October 2009 and brings features of Yellowstone National Park to the Memphis Zoo. “Teton” refers to the Teton Range in Wyoming. The exhibit starts with a 25-foot replica of the Old Faithful Geyser and includes a building called the Great Lodge. It is home to grizzly bears, elk, timber wolves, trumpeter swans, a North American porcupine, black bears, and sandhill cranes. Visitors can see underwater views of the bears’ fishing pond and a lookout over a replica of Yellowstone’s Firehole Falls.

Northwest Passage

This $23 million exhibit opened on March 1, 2006, and is home to the zoo’s polar bears. It features an underwater viewing area, a place to watch sea lions, and a large amphitheater for daily sea lion shows. The exhibit honors the First Nations culture of British Columbia and the animals of the Pacific Northwest. It also houses American bald eagles and white-necked ravens.

African Veldt

This area includes African elephants, white rhinos, giraffes, zebras, Grant’s gazelle, and ostriches. Other animals here are African cranes, bontebok, lechwe, bongo, and scimitar oryx. The elephant exhibit was enlarged in 2006 to include a pool for the elephants to swim in.

World of Waterfowl

This exhibit has two wooden bridges that lead visitors through a wetland area. It is home to about 30 Chilean flamingos and many other types of waterfowl.

Birds and Bees

Opened in May 2009, this exhibit lets visitors get close to honey bee hives and learn about the important role bees play in agriculture. It also has an outdoor aviary with about 500 budgies (parakeets) that visitors can feed.

Central zone

China

Opened in April 2003, this $16 million exhibit focuses on Chinese animals. It was one of only four U.S. zoos to have giant pandas, though as of 2023, there are none on display. Other animals here include Sulawesi Black-crested macaques, Père David’s deer, red pandas, François’ langurs, golden pheasants, and red-crowned cranes.

Primate Canyon

Opened in 1995, this exhibit has outdoor areas for western lowland gorillas, Sumatran orangutans, siamang gibbons, lion-tailed macaques, black-and-white ruffed lemurs, Mona monkeys, Sulawesi macaques, red ruffed lemurs, lesser spot-nosed monkeys, eastern black-and-white colobus, and savanna baboons.

Commercial Appeal Cat Country

This 3-acre exhibit has African lions, cheetahs, Amur leopards, meerkats, caracals, cougars, Sumatran tigers, Bengal tigers, jaguars, snow leopards, and red pandas. The area is designed to look like the natural homes of these animals, with structures like temple ruins around the Sumatran tiger exhibit. The old Carnivora Building has been turned into the zoo’s main restaurant, the Cat House Café.

Zambezi River Hippo Camp

Opened in 2016, this African exhibit is next to the Primate Pavilion and the south entrance to the African Veldt. It houses hippos, Nile crocodiles, okapi, yellow-backed duikers, Cape vultures, taveta weavers, nyalas, mandrills, blue-bellied rollers, patas monkeys, and both Chilean and lesser flamingos.

Bonobos

Six bonobos, including a baby born in 2005, live in this indoor/outdoor exhibit near the China exhibit. Bonobos are endangered and found only in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Animals of the Night

This exhibit is designed for nocturnal animals, allowing visitors to see them when they are most active. It features a central bat flyway and many other species, including aardvarks and wombats. The exhibit also includes the Bear cuscus, which is found in only four other zoos worldwide.

West zone

Dragon's Lair

Built especially for the Komodo dragon—the largest lizard in the world—this exhibit has both outdoor and indoor areas to keep the dragons comfortable in winter. Keepers give feeding demonstrations on Saturdays.

Tropical Bird House

This building has many colorful birds from around the world, such as pygmy falcons, Bali mynas, and Toco toucans. Visitors can walk through an aviary and get close to the birds, especially during feeding time.

Aquarium

One of the oldest exhibits, the Aquarium shows both fresh and salt water animals. Some of the animals include Fly River turtles, electric eels, red-bellied piranhas, archer fish, green moray eels, porcupine pufferfish, Arapaima, and Volitan lionfish. The electric eel exhibit turns the eel's electric pulses into sounds and lights.

Penguin Rock

More than 30 African penguins live at Penguin Rock, near the zoo’s rides area. American white pelicans are also nearby.

Once Upon A Farm

This exhibit looks like a farm from the early 1900s. It includes Caspian horses, goats, prairie dogs, chickens, Babydoll sheep, miniature cows, guinea pigs, Pekin ducks, and miniature donkeys. There is also a vegetable garden, a cotton patch, and rows of corn.

Herpetarium

Located near the Tropical Bird House, the Herpetarium has snakes, alligators, lizards, and frogs. Some of the animals include Burmese pythons, American alligators, Prehensile-tailed skinks, azure poison dart frogs, and Galápagos tortoises. It also has some of the world’s most venomous snakes, like the green mamba and Eastern diamondback rattlesnake, as well as an alligator snapping turtle. A special exhibit features the endangered Mississippi gopher frog and its habitat.

Round Barn

This exhibit is home to gerenuks, known for their very long necks. The exhibit also includes Abyssinian ground-hornbills, warthogs, red river hogs, Grey crowned cranes, nyalas, yellow-backed duikers, dik diks, klipspringers, and dama gazelles. Keepers put out tall bamboo stems to encourage the gerenuks’ natural foraging behavior.

Other features

The Memphis Zoo designs its spaces carefully with special landscaping. You can find beautiful water features like ponds, waterfalls, and streams, along with rocks that fit naturally with the animal homes. The zoo also has many trees, shrubs, and plants that change with the seasons.

The zoo hosts many fun events throughout the year. Some favorite events include Zoo Lights with lots of holiday lights, Zoo Boo with a spooky forest, and special tours and activities for kids. The zoo also publishes a magazine called Exzoobrance twice each year. It shares news about the animals, upcoming events, and fun activities for children.