Memphis Zoo Memphis Zoo Cat Country

BigCatConniseur24

BigCatConniseur24

Well-Known Member
Hi everyone,

I’m writing because after doing some research, I found that the Memphis Zoo has quite a large and impressive cat collection and the best place to see all the cats at the zoo is Cat Country. I knew about Cat Country even before this, because I used to watch Ultimate Zoo on Animal Planet as a kid. Anyways, is Cat Country the real deal? If I’m correct they have Bengal Tigers (including one with white fur), Sumatran Tigers, African Lions, Jaguars (including two female cubs!!), Cougars, Snow Leopards, a male Amur Leopard, Cheetahs, Caracals, and Fishing Cats. Obviously, I’m a big cat connoisseur and that’s 10 species of cats which is way more than I typically see at the average north American zoo (usually 5-7, 5 is probably the average). Anyways, is Cat Country the real deal? I do NOT care about the exhibits themselves, that’s not why I visit zoos. I visit zoos to see the animals, not to critique the exhibits. I’m aware that most of them are outdated and a bit on the smaller side. I’m okay with that though, because I rarely get to see so many cats at one facility. Plus, I have never seen a jaguar at zoo and jaguars are my second favorite cat species after tigers. Additionally, I’ve never seen a cougar in a zoo, let alone in the wild forests of the United States of America. I’ve also never seen a caracal or a fishing cat before or a white bengal tiger. Anyways, the biggest reasons why I want to visit are 1. The very impressive cat collection 2. Jaguars 3. Cougars 4. White Bengal Tigers.
 
BigCatConniseur24 said:
Hi everyone,

I’m writing because after doing some research, I found that the Memphis Zoo has quite a large and impressive cat collection and the best place to see all the cats at the zoo is Cat Country. I knew about Cat Country even before this, because I used to watch Ultimate Zoo on Animal Planet as a kid. Anyways, is Cat Country the real deal? If I’m correct they have Bengal Tigers (including one with white fur), Sumatran Tigers, African Lions, Jaguars (including two female cubs!!), Cougars, Snow Leopards, a male Amur Leopard, Cheetahs, Caracals, and Fishing Cats. Obviously, I’m a big cat connoisseur and that’s 10 species of cats which is way more than I typically see at the average north American zoo (usually 5-7, 5 is probably the average). Anyways, is Cat Country the real deal? I do NOT care about the exhibits themselves, that’s not why I visit zoos. I visit zoos to see the animals, not to critique the exhibits. I’m aware that most of them are outdated and a bit on the smaller side. I’m okay with that though, because I rarely get to see so many cats at one facility. Plus, I have never seen a jaguar at zoo and jaguars are my second favorite cat species after tigers. Additionally, I’ve never seen a cougar in a zoo, let alone in the wild forests of the United States of America. I’ve also never seen a caracal or a fishing cat before or a white bengal tiger. Anyways, the biggest reasons why I want to visit are 1. The very impressive cat collection 2. Jaguars 3. Cougars 4. White Bengal Tigers.
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If I'm correct, there are not any sub specific Bengal tigers in North America. What they have is probably generic tiger.
 
BigCatConniseur24 said:
I do NOT care about the exhibits themselves, that’s not why I visit zoos. I visit zoos to see the animals, not to critique the exhibits. I’m aware that most of them are outdated and a bit on the smaller side. I’m okay with that though, because I rarely get to see so many cats at one facility.
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Am I reading that correctly? You don't care how animals at a zoo are being housed so long as you can see them?

I feel like this attitude is why there are so many horrendous roadside zoos in the USA.
 
Chlidonias said:
Am I reading that correctly? You don't care how animals at a zoo are being housed so long as you can see them?

I feel like this attitude is why there are so many horrendous roadside zoos in the USA.
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Can you please allow me to explain why I wrote that? Yes, exhibit quality IS important. The exhibit needs to be designed correctly and appropriately for any species of animal. That is important for the animals, the zoos, and zoo exhibit designers, etcetera. However, as the average zoo visitor, as long as the exhibits aren’t terrible, and cruel, I’m okay with it. It’s not like the cats live in indoor cages with metal bars all day. That’s animal cruelty and abuse. And again, I do NOT go to zoos to critique the exhibits or judge them on quality, I’m there for the sole purpose of seeing the animals, regardless of the exhibit. Yes, I do actually prefer large, spacious exhibits over smaller ones, but unfortunately you cannot always have a large spacious exhibit For every animal in your collection. Anyways, I’m sorry if I sounded selfish. I do genuinely care about the animals health and well-being, as animals are my biggest passions. It’s just that when I go to a zoo, I want to focus on seeing as many animals as possible. I’m sorry that my opinion offends you. I didn’t mean to come across as selfish at all. I do agree road side zoos are a problem.
 
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BigCatConniseur24 said:
Hello, Neil. Can you please explain to me what a generic tiger is? Thanks!
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A generic tiger is essentially a mutt. It is not a purebred of any tiger subspecies, just like a mutt dog might be part labrador, part beagle, and part german shepard. A lot of your classic ABC animals can be found in a generic or non-subspecific form in a lot of zoos across the country and the world. Along with tigers, the other biggest culprit is giraffes. Most giraffes labeled as reticulated giraffes in US zoos are actually generic giraffes. This is also true with the african leopard, as all labeled as african leopards are technically a generic leopard. Someone else might be able to give you more examples of generic animals if you want them, but those are the big ones that pop up in my head.
 
BigCatConniseur24 said:
Hi everyone,

I’m writing because after doing some research, I found that the Memphis Zoo has quite a large and impressive cat collection and the best place to see all the cats at the zoo is Cat Country. I knew about Cat Country even before this, because I used to watch Ultimate Zoo on Animal Planet as a kid. Anyways, is Cat Country the real deal? If I’m correct they have Bengal Tigers (including one with white fur), Sumatran Tigers, African Lions, Jaguars (including two female cubs!!), Cougars, Snow Leopards, a male Amur Leopard, Cheetahs, Caracals, and Fishing Cats. Obviously, I’m a big cat connoisseur and that’s 10 species of cats which is way more than I typically see at the average north American zoo (usually 5-7, 5 is probably the average). Anyways, is Cat Country the real deal? I do NOT care about the exhibits themselves, that’s not why I visit zoos. I visit zoos to see the animals, not to critique the exhibits. I’m aware that most of them are outdated and a bit on the smaller side. I’m okay with that though, because I rarely get to see so many cats at one facility. Plus, I have never seen a jaguar at zoo and jaguars are my second favorite cat species after tigers. Additionally, I’ve never seen a cougar in a zoo, let alone in the wild forests of the United States of America. I’ve also never seen a caracal or a fishing cat before or a white bengal tiger. Anyways, the biggest reasons why I want to visit are 1. The very impressive cat collection 2. Jaguars 3. Cougars 4. White Bengal Tigers.
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Yes, Cat County is the real deal. Only thing I would caution you on is there is only 1 tiger exhibit, and the species that is out is dependent on the day. The sumatran is out on Tuesdays through Thursdays, and the bengals are out Fridays through Mondays, according to this site from 2017.
I wasn't sure about the white tiger because I couldn't find anything recent about it, but then I found this YouTube video from February this year that shows not only one with white fur, but one with golden too.
 
Neil chace said:
A generic tiger is essentially a mutt. It is not a purebred of any tiger subspecies, just like a mutt dog might be part labrador, part beagle, and part german shepard. A lot of your classic ABC animals can be found in a generic or non-subspecific form in a lot of zoos across the country and the world. Along with tigers, the other biggest culprit is giraffes. Most giraffes labeled as reticulated giraffes in US zoos are actually generic giraffes. This is also true with the african leopard, as all labeled as african leopards are technically a generic leopard. Someone else might be able to give you more examples of generic animals if you want them, but those are the big ones that pop up in my head.
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Thank you for explaining that, Neil. I really appreciate that. Your explanation makes sense. I actually have two mutt dogs. Both are 3-year old female black lab/terrier mixes.
 
BigNate said:
Yes, Cat County is the real deal. Only thing I would caution you on is there is only 1 tiger exhibit, and the species that is out is dependent on the day. The sumatran is out on Tuesdays through Thursdays, and the bengals are out Fridays through Mondays, according to this site from 2017.
I wasn't sure about the white tiger because I couldn't find anything recent about it, but then I found this YouTube video from February this year that shows not only one with white fur, but one with golden too.
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Thank you very much, Nate for your information. I certainly look forward to visiting the exhibit. I better visit sooner or later before they change the species lineup in Cat Country. Not all good things last, sadly.
 
TinoPup said:
All of those species can be found within a few hours of your location, vs having to do a big trip to Memphis, btw.
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All at the same zoo? The thing that I really like about Memphis is that you can see tigers, lions, Jaguars, Cougars, Amur leopards, snow leopards, cheetahs, etc. at the same facility. Not every zoo has that many cat species obviously.
 
BigCatConniseur24 said:
All at the same zoo? The thing that I really like about Memphis is that you can see tigers, lions, Jaguars, Cougars, Amur leopards, snow leopards, cheetahs, etc. at the same facility. Not every zoo has that many cat species obviously.
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Philadelphia has every species you just named - Amur leopard, Amur tiger, lion, jaguar, snow leopard, cougar, and cheetah; unfortunately they no longer have bobcats or BFCs.
Erie Zoo, less than 2 hours from Pittsburgh, has Amur leopard, Amur tiger, lion, jaguar, Canada lynx, caracal, serval, and sand cat.
Both Living Treasures locations have white tigers, they're both less than an hour from Pittsburgh.
 
TinoPup said:
Philadelphia has every species you just named - Amur leopard, Amur tiger, lion, jaguar, snow leopard, cougar, and cheetah; unfortunately they no longer have bobcats or BFCs.
Erie Zoo, less than 2 hours from Pittsburgh, has Amur leopard, Amur tiger, lion, jaguar, Canada lynx, caracal, serval, and sand cat.
Both Living Treasures locations have white tigers, they're both less than an hour from Pittsburgh.
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Thank you very much for the info!! Very helpful.
 
As @BigNate says, yes Memphis Cat Country is definitely the real deal. The exhibits are pretty good, the collection is excellent, and they are all in one place. It's a big loop so when you get to the end you can just enter again and start over. I am a cat fanatic like you and this is one of my favorite exhibits. There are some other good areas of the zoo too, including some nice additions since I visited (grizzly complex and hippo complex).

When I visited many years ago they only had the three bengal/hybrid tigers (aka generic tigers). One is standard orange, one is white, and one is golden tabby, which is even rarer in zoos than white. Seeing all three together was great. I thought someone had posted on ZooChat that those were now gone and they only had Sumatran, but I guess I am wrong and they alternate them. (I must be confusing it with Nashville Zoo which traded out their white and orange hybrids for Sumatran). As someone else said if they do alternate make sure you confirm with the zoo which day the bengal/hybrids will be on exhibit. Either way just go and you will love it! Another favorite cat complex of mine, which someone else mentioned, is Philadelphia Zoo Big Cat Falls. The only problem there is the cheetahs and small cats are in different parts of the zoo.
 
Here is a photo I uploaded of the three colors of tiger together:
full
 
Calvin Stevens said:
Do you know why they are behind the scenes? I had always loved seeing them when I saw them at the zoo.
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I believe they did some recent re-arranging of the caracal and fishing cat exhibits. I’m not sure exactly what happened, but the fishing cat and one of the other small cats got reshuffled, and the ocelots ended up moving behind the scenes.
 
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