Chattanooga Zoo
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The Chattanooga Zoo at Warner Park (formerly the Warner Park Zoo) is a
zoological Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...
park located in Warner Park in
Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...
. The zoo was established in 1937 by the City of Chattanooga with the construction of two cages for
rhesus monkey The rhesus macaque (''Macaca mulatta''), colloquially rhesus monkey, is a species of Old World monkey. There are between six and nine recognised subspecies split between two groups, the Chinese-derived and the Indian-derived. Generally brown or g ...
s. (An earlier zoo was established in 1900, Oxley Zoo, by Colonel F. G. Oxley of
Bridgeport, Alabama Bridgeport is a city in Jackson County, Alabama, United States. At the time of 2020 census the population was 2,264, down from 2,418 in 2010. Bridgeport is included in the Chattanooga-Cleveland-Dalton, TN-GA-AL Combined Statistical Area. Histo ...
, when he donated $500 to open the first public zoo in Chattanooga. Oxley Zoo closed due to financial constraints in 1911.) The zoo has been accredited by the
Association of Zoos and Aquariums The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), originally the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums (AAZPA), is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1924 and dedicated to the advancement of zoos and public aqu ...
(AZA) since 1998.


Exhibits and facilities

The most notable exhibit is the Himalayan Passage, which houses the zoo's
red panda The red panda (''Ailurus fulgens''), also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzz ...
s. The exhibit boasts the largest indoor red panda exhibit in the world, despite the zoo being one of the smallest zoos accredited by the
AZA Aza or AZA may refer to: Places *Aza, Azerbaijan, a village and municipality *Azadkənd, Nakhchivan or Lower Aza, Azerbaijan *Aza, medieval name of Haza, Province of Burgos, Spain *Aźa, a Tibetan name for the Tuyuhun kingdom *Aza, a Hebrew roman ...
. The Himalayan Passage passage was expanded in 2006 to include habitats for
snow leopard The snow leopard (''Panthera uncia'') is a species of large cat in the genus ''Panthera'' of the family Felidae. The species is native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because ...
s and Hanuman langurs. The hanuman langurs shared an exhibit with a Francois langur, and when the last hanuman langur left in 2015, the zoo welcomed a new Francois langur. The Francois langurs left and then were replaced by a breeding pair of white-cheeked gibbons in 2019. The Gombe Forest is a $2.1 million exhibit that is home to the zoo's
chimpanzees The chimpanzee (; ''Pan troglodytes''), also simply known as the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed one. When its close relative the ...
. The Gombe Forest is an indoor/outdoor exhibit built in 2001 to house Hank, the zoo's long-time resident and seen in photo at right, as well as several other chimps. Hank, found in the rain forests of Africa in 1968, was donated to the zoo in 1976 and became the longest and most famous resident of the zoo before passing away of natural causes at age 42 on January 24, 2011. The Donovan Interpretive Center features an indoor chimpanzee viewing area and other small exhibits. The Corcovado Jungle is home to animals from Latin America, including
jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...
s,
spider monkey Spider monkeys are New World monkeys belonging to the genus ''Ateles'', part of the subfamily Atelinae, family Atelidae. Like other atelines, they are found in tropical forests of Central and South America, from southern Mexico to Brazil. The g ...
s,
macaw Macaws are a group of Neotropical parrot, New World parrots that are long-tailed and often colorful, in the Tribe (biology), tribe Arini (tribe), Arini. They are popular in aviculture or as companion parrots, although there are conservation con ...
s,
capybara The capybara or greater capybara (''Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris'') is the largest living rodent, native to South America. It is a member of the genus '' Hydrochoerus''. The only other extant member is the lesser capybara (''Hydrochoerus isthmi ...
s,
kinkajou The kinkajou ( /ˈkɪŋkədʒuː/ ''KING-kə-joo''; ''Potos flavus'') is a tropical rainforest mammal of the family Procyonidae related to olingos, coatis, raccoons, and the ringtail and cacomistle. It is the only member of the genus ''Pot ...
s, and the
prehensile-tailed porcupine The prehensile-tailed porcupines or coendous (genus ''Coendou'') are found in Central and South America. Two other formerly recognized Neotropical tree porcupine genera, ''Echinoprocta'' and ''Sphiggurus'', have been subsumed into ''Coendou'', s ...
. The La Selva Amazonica pavilion houses four different species of
tamarin The tamarins are squirrel-sized New World monkeys from the family Callitrichidae in the genus ''Saguinus''. They are the first offshoot in the Callitrichidae tree, and therefore are the sister group of a clade formed by the lion tamarins, Go ...
s as well as Geoffrey's
marmosets The marmosets (), also known as zaris or sagoin, are twenty-two New World monkey species of the genera '' Callithrix'', ''Cebuella'', '' Callibella'', and ''Mico''. All four genera are part of the biological family Callitrichidae. The term " ...
. Desert dwellers such as fennec
foxes Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...
,
meerkat The meerkat (''Suricata suricatta'') or suricate is a small mongoose found in southern Africa. It is characterised by a broad head, large eyes, a pointed snout, long legs, a thin tapering tail, and a brindled coat pattern. The head-and-body ...
s, and the
sand cat The sand cat (''Felis margarita'') is a small wild cat that inhabits sandy and stony deserts far from water sources. With its sandy to light grey fur, it is well camouflaged in a desert environment. Its head-and-body length ranges from with a ...
, and forest animals including
komodo dragon The Komodo dragon (''Varanus komodoensis''), also known as the Komodo monitor, is a large reptile of the monitor lizard family Varanidae that is endemic to the Indonesian islands of Komodo (island), Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Dasami, and Gili ...
s can be found in the Deserts and Forests of the World buildings. Walkin' the Tracks holds the zoo's North American animals, including
bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the wildcat, bay lynx, or red lynx, is one of the four extant species within the medium-sized wild cat genus '' Lynx''. Native to North America, it ranges from southern Canada through most of the c ...
s,
prairie dog Prairie dogs (genus ''Cynomys'') are herbivorous burrowing Marmotini, ground squirrels native to the grasslands of North America. There are five recognized species of prairie dog: black-tailed prairie dog, black-tailed, white-tailed prairie dog ...
s and
white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known Common name, commonly as the whitetail and the Virginia deer, is a medium-sized species of deer native to North America, North, Central America, Central and South America. It is the ...
. Its theme is around a railroad in reference to Chattanooga's rail history. The Cougar Express has indoor viewing in a train car for the zoo's cougars. The Warner Park Ranch is home to dromedary
camels A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provide ...
,
pot-bellied pig Vietnamese Pot-bellied is the exonym for the Lon I () or I pig, an endangered traditional Vietnamese list of pig breeds, breed of small domestic pig. The I is uniformly black and has short legs and a low-hanging belly, from which the name deriv ...
s,
miniature horse A miniature horse is a breed or type of horse characterised by its small size. Usually it has been bred to display in miniature the physical characteristics of a full-sized horse, but to be little over in height, or even less. Although such h ...
s,
alpaca The alpaca (''Lama pacos'') is a species of South American camelid mammal. Traditionally, alpacas were kept in herds that grazed on the level heights of the Andes of Southern Peru, Western Bolivia, Ecuador, and Northern Chile. More recentl ...
s, and a highland
cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...
. The petting zoo houses a few different breeds of
goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the ...
s, which guests are allowed to pet. A new front entrance complex opened in 2008, and includes new parking areas, a gift shop, restroom facilities, a concessions pavilion, and an endangered species carousel. In May 2020, the zoo received three male
reticulated giraffe The reticulated giraffe (''Giraffa reticulata'' or ''Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata'') is a species/subspecies of giraffe native to the Horn of Africa. It is differentiated from other types of giraffe by its coat, which consists of large, p ...
s, opening the Makazi Ya Twiga exhibit and completing Phase 1 of their "Reaching Great Heights" campaign and expansion. It later obtained
blue duiker The blue duiker (''Philantomba monticola'') is a small antelope found in central, southern and eastern Africa. It is the smallest species of duiker. The species was first described by Swedish naturalist Carl Peter Thunberg in 1789. 12 subspe ...
s in an indoor exhibit. The zoo also operates an intake wildlife rehabilitation facility that treats admitted animals until they can be transported to another local facility.


Conservation

The Chattanooga Zoo is actively involved in conservation efforts, specifically the AZA's Species Survival Plan which manages the breeding, conservation, and welfare of endangered species throughout AZA accredited facilities in North America. The zoo has joined hands with
Lincoln Park Zoo Lincoln Park Zoo, also known as Lincoln Park Zoological Gardens, is a zoo in Lincoln Park, Chicago, Illinois. The zoo was founded in 1868 and is the second oldest zoo in the United States. It is also one of a small number of zoos to offer fr ...
in the Argentine Jaguar Conservation Project, and with
Lee University Lee University is a Private university, private Church of God (Cleveland), Christian university in Cleveland, Tennessee. It was founded in 1918 as the Church of God Bible Training School with twelve students and one teacher, Nora I. Chambers. Th ...
in the
Hellbender The hellbender (''Cryptobranchus alleganiensis''), also known as the hellbender salamander, is a species of aquatic giant salamander endemic to the eastern and central United States. It is the largest salamander in North America. A member of the ...
Conservation Program. Since 1998, the zoo has also been a partner with the Zoo Conservation Outreach Group/Fundacion Zoologica (ZCOG). ZCOG is an organization that partners with
Latin American Latin Americans (; ) are the citizenship, citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their Latin American diaspora, diasporas are Metroethnicity, ...
zoos and assists with conservation initiatives in Latin America, specifically the saving of the Amazon Rainforest.


The future

The zoo is currently undergoing a five-phase, $12 million Master Plan that is transforming it into an excellent zoological facility. In the last 10 years, the zoo has expanded from to its current . The Master Plan includes new exhibits and expansion of the animal collection to specifically include
African penguin The African penguin (''Spheniscus demersus''), also known as Cape penguin or South African penguin, is a species of penguin confined to southern African waters. It is the only penguin found in the Old World. Like all penguins, it is flightless, ...
s,
gibbon Gibbons () are apes in the family Hylobatidae (). The family historically contained one genus, but now is split into four extant genera and 20 species. Gibbons live in subtropical and tropical forests from eastern Bangladesh and Northeast Indi ...
s, and
Komodo dragon The Komodo dragon (''Varanus komodoensis''), also known as the Komodo monitor, is a large reptile of the monitor lizard family Varanidae that is endemic to the Indonesian islands of Komodo (island), Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Dasami, and Gili ...
s.


Notes


External links

* {{authority control Zoos in Tennessee Education in Chattanooga, Tennessee Economy of Chattanooga, Tennessee Buildings and structures in Chattanooga, Tennessee Tourist attractions in Chattanooga, Tennessee Educational organizations established in 1937 Zoos established in the 1930s