Knoxville Zoo
For many East Tennesseans, the Knoxville Zoo in Chilhowee Park is about the animals, from apes to zebras, they see.
A total of 867 animals of 217 species, many native to continents outside the United States, live at the zoo. Visitors can see animals, including sleek river otters, curious prairie dogs, regal tigers and comic penguins. Inquisitive meerkats, stately giraffes, white rhinos and black bears are among the zoo's animals, as well.
Inhabitants of the natural habitat Gorilla Valley and the Chimpanzee Ridge exhibit are popular. And four African lion cubs born in 2006 promise to remind visitors of the antics of much smaller, more domesticated felines.
But the zoo also is involved in 29 American Zoological Association Species Survival Plans. Through those plans, the park aims to help endangered animals, from chimpanzees to Aruba Island rattlesnakes to Bali mynahs, reproduce and survive in captivity.
Among the SSP program the zoo participates in with great success is one for red pandas. More than 80 pandas have been born in Knoxville since 1978 - more than in any other North American park.
The pandas this year get a new home, Red Panda Village. Joining the village will be three females from New Zealand. The trio represents new bloodlines for the panda species survival plan.
With one of the top ten reptile collections in the country, the zoo is the first U.S. park to breed Northern spider tortoises and Madagascar flat-tail tortoises. It also has the world's most successful breeding program for East Tennessee native bog turtles.
The zoo that now attracts an annual 400,000 visitors began in 1948 with just one animal - an alligator named Al. For four decades the park's been associated with one of the world's largest animals, the African elephant.
Currently three elephants - the male Tonka and females Jana and Edie - live in the natural habitat Stokely African Elephant Preserve. But the zoo's first pachyderm was a bad-tempered circus castoff.
Ole Diamond was left in Knoxville by a visiting circus in 1963. An animal with a big appetite and ornery disposition, Diamond knocked holes in his concrete blockhouse. But when some city officials wanted to get rid of the animal, they set off a public outrage. Knoxvillians loved Diamond, and their love for him raised interest in what was then the Municipal Zoo.
Today, a smaller, more amiable animal is a well-known zoo figure. Einstein, a Congo African grey parrot who knows more than 200 words and sounds, has appeared on the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and other national broadcasts. Locally, Einstein stars in the zoo's bird show programs.
The zoo traditionally hosts a summer exhibit during its busiest tourist season. This summer brings a bug-themed "ZooSpy" display and visiting white alligator exhibit.
But the 54-acre zoo isn't only about animals. One of its newest attractions is Kids' Cove that combined a children's playground with animal exhibits. Designed as a romanticized 1800s version of the Smoky Mountains' Cades Cove, the area is aimed primarily at children ages 3 to 10 and their families.
Operating hours subject to change
Knoxville Zoo is open 364 days of the year, weather permitting.
The only day Knoxville Zoo is closed is Christmas Day, Dec. 25.
