Knoxville Zoo
Encyclopedia
Knoxville Zoo is a 53 acres (21.4 ha) zoo
located just east of downtown Knoxville, Tennessee
near exit 392 of Interstate 40
. The zoo is home to about 800 animals and welcomes over 400,000 human visitors each year.
The zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums
(AZA).
Indoor exhibits at the zoo include the Night Club, the Barn Loft, and a large reptile collection.
Attractions for children include the Clayton Family Kids Cove, which opened in 2005, the Wee Play Zoo, and a new indoor play area.
s and White Rhinos
. The zoo also bred the first African elephant in captivity in the western hemisphere, in 1978.
In 2009, Sarah Glass, Curator of red pandas and Special Exhibits at the Knoxville Zoo
in Knoxville, Tennessee
, was appointed as coordinator for the North American Red Panda Species Survival Plan. The Knoxville Zoo has the largest number of captive red panda births in the Western Hemisphere (101 as of August 2011). Only the Rotterdam Zoo in the Netherlands
has had more captive births worldwide.
Partnership with Mozilla Firefox
By the end of 2010, Mozilla Foundation
—the creator of Firefox Web browser
—partnered with Knoxville Zoo in an effort to raise the awareness about endangered red pandas. Two red panda
cubs born at the Knoxville Zoo have officially become a part of the Mozilla
community. The cubs were named Spark and Ember by online voters, and Mozilla
broadcasted a 24 hour live video stream of the cubs.
Zoo
A zoological garden, zoological park, menagerie, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred....
located just east of downtown Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
near exit 392 of Interstate 40
Interstate 40
Interstate 40 is the third-longest major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States, after I-90 and I-80. Its western end is at Interstate 15 in Barstow, California; its eastern end is at a concurrency of U.S. Route 117 and North Carolina Highway 132 in Wilmington, North Carolina...
. The zoo is home to about 800 animals and welcomes over 400,000 human visitors each year.
The zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums
Association of Zoos and Aquariums
The Association of Zoos and Aquariums was founded in 1924 and is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of zoos and public aquariums in the areas of conservation, education, science, and recreation.The AZA headquarters is located in Silver...
(AZA).
Exhibits
The zoo features many naturalistic outdoor habitats for its animal residents, including:- Animal Encounter Village
- Black Bear Falls
- Chimp Ridge
- Grasslands Africa
- Meerkat Lookout
- Stokely African Elephant Preserve
- The Boyd Family Red Panda Village
- The Clayton Family Kids Cove
Indoor exhibits at the zoo include the Night Club, the Barn Loft, and a large reptile collection.
Attractions for children include the Clayton Family Kids Cove, which opened in 2005, the Wee Play Zoo, and a new indoor play area.
Mammals
- African Elephant
- African Lion
- African Wild DogAfrican Wild DogLycaon pictus is a large canid found only in Africa, especially in savannas and lightly wooded areas. It is variously called the African wild dog, African hunting dog, Cape hunting dog, painted dog, painted wolf, painted hunting dog, spotted dog, or ornate wolf...
- American Black BearAmerican black bearThe American black bear is a medium-sized bear native to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most common bear species. Black bears are omnivores, with their diets varying greatly depending on season and location. They typically live in largely forested areas, but do leave forests in...
- CheetahCheetahThe cheetah is a large-sized feline inhabiting most of Africa and parts of the Middle East. The cheetah is the only extant member of the genus Acinonyx, most notable for modifications in the species' paws...
- Blue MonkeyBlue MonkeyThe blue monkey or diademed monkey is a species of Old World monkey native to Central and East Africa, ranging from the upper Congo River basin east to the Great Rift Valley and south to northern Angola and Zambia...
- ChimpanzeeChimpanzeeChimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...
- Geoffrey's Marmoset
- Hamadryas BaboonHamadryas BaboonThe Hamadryas baboon is a species of baboon from the Old World monkey family. It is the northernmost of all the baboons; being native to the Horn of Africa and the southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. These regions provide habitats with the advantage for this species of fewer natural...
- Indochinese TigerIndochinese TigerThe Indochinese tiger or Corbett's tiger is a subspecies of tiger found in Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand, and Vietnam and formerly in China. Tigers in peninsular Malaysia, formerly classified as Indochinese, have recently been reclassified as a separate subspecies, Malayan tiger Panthera tigris...
- North American River Otter
- Plains ZebraPlains ZebraThe plains zebra , also known as the common zebra or Burchell's zebra, is the most common and geographically widespread species of zebra. It ranges from the south of Ethiopia through East Africa to as far south as Angola and eastern South Africa...
- Red PandaRed PandaThe red panda , is a small arboreal mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It is the only species of the genus Ailurus. Slightly larger than a domestic cat, it has reddish-brown fur, a long, shaggy tail, and a waddling gait due to its shorter front legs...
- Red WolfRed WolfThe red wolf is a North American canid which once roamed throughout the Southeastern United States and is a glacial period survivor of the Late Pleistocene epoch...
- Reticulated Giraffe
- Snow LeopardSnow LeopardThe snow leopard is a moderately large cat native to the mountain ranges of South Asia and Central Asia...
- Southern White Rhino
- Thomson's GazelleThomson's GazelleThe Thomson's gazelle is one of the best-known gazelles. It is named after explorer Joseph Thomson and, as a result, is sometimes referred to as a "tommie"...
- Western Lowland GorillaWestern Lowland GorillaThe western lowland gorilla is a subspecies of the western gorilla that lives in montane, primary, and secondary forests and lowland swamps in Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. It is the gorilla usually found in zoos...
- White-Handed Gibbon
Birds
- African grey parrotAfrican Grey ParrotThe African Grey Parrot , also known as the Grey Parrot, is a medium-sized parrot found in the primary and secondary rainforest of West and Central Africa. Experts regard it as one of the most intelligent birds. They feed primarily on palm nuts, seeds, fruits, leafy matter, but have been observed...
- Black-footed penguin
- Scarlet MacawScarlet MacawThe Scarlet Macaw is a large, colorful macaw. It is native to humid evergreen forests in the American tropics. Range extends from extreme south-eastern Mexico to Amazonian Peru, Bolivia and Brazil in lowlands up to up to...
- Southern Ground Hornbill
- Toco toucanToco ToucanThe Toco Toucan is the largest and probably the best known species in the toucan family. It is found in semi-open habitats throughout a large part of central and eastern South America...
Reptiles
- Alligator snapping turtleAlligator Snapping TurtleThe alligator snapping turtle is one of the largest freshwater turtles in the world. It is not closely related to, but is often associated with the common snapping turtle. They are the sole living member of the genus Macrochelys--while common snappers are in the genus Chelydra...
- Chinese alligatorChinese AlligatorThe Chinese alligator or Alligator Alligator sinensis) is one of two known living species of Alligator, a genus in the family Alligatoridae. The Chinese alligator is native only to China...
- Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
- Gila monsterGila monsterThe Gila monster is a species of venomous lizard native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexican state of Sonora...
Conservation
The Knoxville Zoo has been successful at breeding several endangered species, especially Red PandaRed Panda
The red panda , is a small arboreal mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It is the only species of the genus Ailurus. Slightly larger than a domestic cat, it has reddish-brown fur, a long, shaggy tail, and a waddling gait due to its shorter front legs...
s and White Rhinos
White Rhinoceros
The White Rhinoceros or Square-lipped rhinoceros is one of the five species of rhinoceros that still exist. It has a wide mouth used for grazing and is the most social of all rhino species...
. The zoo also bred the first African elephant in captivity in the western hemisphere, in 1978.
In 2009, Sarah Glass, Curator of red pandas and Special Exhibits at the Knoxville Zoo
Knoxville Zoo
Knoxville Zoo is a zoo located just east of downtown Knoxville, Tennessee near exit 392 of Interstate 40. The zoo is home to about 800 animals and welcomes over 400,000 human visitors each year....
in Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
, was appointed as coordinator for the North American Red Panda Species Survival Plan. The Knoxville Zoo has the largest number of captive red panda births in the Western Hemisphere (101 as of August 2011). Only the Rotterdam Zoo in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
has had more captive births worldwide.
Partnership with Mozilla FirefoxMozilla FirefoxMozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite and managed by Mozilla Corporation. , Firefox is the second most widely used browser, with approximately 25% of worldwide usage share of web browsers...
By the end of 2010, Mozilla FoundationMozilla Foundation
The Mozilla Foundation is a non-profit organization that exists to support and provide leadership for the open source Mozilla project. The organization sets the policies that govern development, operates key infrastructure and controls trademarks and other intellectual property...
—the creator of Firefox Web browser
Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox is a free and open source web browser descended from the Mozilla Application Suite and managed by Mozilla Corporation. , Firefox is the second most widely used browser, with approximately 25% of worldwide usage share of web browsers...
—partnered with Knoxville Zoo in an effort to raise the awareness about endangered red pandas. Two red panda
Red Panda
The red panda , is a small arboreal mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It is the only species of the genus Ailurus. Slightly larger than a domestic cat, it has reddish-brown fur, a long, shaggy tail, and a waddling gait due to its shorter front legs...
cubs born at the Knoxville Zoo have officially become a part of the Mozilla
Mozilla Foundation
The Mozilla Foundation is a non-profit organization that exists to support and provide leadership for the open source Mozilla project. The organization sets the policies that govern development, operates key infrastructure and controls trademarks and other intellectual property...
community. The cubs were named Spark and Ember by online voters, and Mozilla
Mozilla Foundation
The Mozilla Foundation is a non-profit organization that exists to support and provide leadership for the open source Mozilla project. The organization sets the policies that govern development, operates key infrastructure and controls trademarks and other intellectual property...
broadcasted a 24 hour live video stream of the cubs.