This midtown Memphis, Tennessee zoo has enjoyed calling Overton Park its home for more than a century. Owned by the City of Memphis, the zoo is set on 76 acres, of which approximately 55 acres have been developed. In the early 1990s, the zoo invested over $77 million for renovation and expansion. The immediate beneficiaries of this overhaul included Cat Country, a three-acre open-air exhibit devoted to predators and prey. Here lions and tigers share living quarters with with fennec foxes and meerkats. Three new exhibits opened in 1995. “Animals of the Night” displays normally nocturnal animals at an hour than visitors can see them. The “Once Upon a Farm” installment was built to resemble an early 1900s farm. “Primate Canyon” features a naturalistic outdoor exhibit where monkeys and apes reside. “The Dragon’s Lair” opened in 1998 and gave the zoo three Komodo dragons.
In April 2003, the Memphis Zoo became one of only four U.S. zoos to exhibit the Giant Panda. One male and one female Giant Panda ("Ya Ya" and "Le Le") were procured and they share a three-acre home. It was constructed to simulate the plants, buildings and sounds of their native China, at a cost of $16 million. That’s a lot of bamboo! “The Herpetarium” houses snakes, alligators, lizards and frogs. The “Pachyderm/Elephant” exhibit is where the giant mastodons unfurl their trunks. The “Northwest Passage” exhibit opened in 2006 lets you view polar bears and sea lions swimming underwater. “Butterflies: In Living Color!” maintains 1,000 butterflies of 35 different species. “The Teton Trek” is an enclosure that contains five grizzly bears and a waterfall and stream stocked with trout so the bears can fish. It’s a great place to cool off on hot days at the zoo. Maintain that cool at Choice hotels near Memphis Zoo, which make it easy for you to wind down in calm and peaceful accommodations after a day of zoological wonder. Book a room with us today.