Memphis Zoo Memphis Zoo News

Memphis Zoo is an intriguing facility as in the past 25 years there has been a tremendous amount of new development (Egyptian entrance, Cat Country, Nocturnal House - which is the old Primate Building, Farm Zone, Primate Canyon, Dragons Lair, CHINA, Northwest Passage, Teton Trek, Zambezi River Hippo Camp) and much of the zoo is modern. However, there are still some historic elements scattered around the grounds such as the 1960's penguin exhibit, 1930's pelican pool, 1950's Aquarium, 1960's African Veldt, 1916 Bird House and the 1920's hoofstock Round Barn. The "Carnivora" Building was built in 1909 and was converted into the Cat House Cafe in the 1990's and the 1909 Pachyderm Building was converted into a staff library and research center.

I own every zoo-related book in the Images of America series (about 15 in total) and the book dealing with the history of Memphis Zoo was published just a few months ago:

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Memphis-Zoo-Images-America-Robert/dp/146711393X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1447528989&sr=8-1&keywords=memphis+zoo"]Memphis Zoo (Images of America): Robert W. Dye: 9781467113939: Amazon.com: Books[/ame]
 
The first resident of Zambezi River Hippo Camp is a male, Okapi named Miráq. He is from Houston Zoo and will soon be joined by another male from another Zoo.
 
Hippo Camp is still being finished. Some exhibits and new residents have moved in to settle, like their Okapi. Aviary is pretty much complete and work is still being done on other exhibits, Patas Monkey, Crocs, etc.
 
What are people's opinions on this article?

An open letter to the Memphis Zoo?s board of directors, officers and executive staff: - Memphis Business Journal

I love the Memphis Zoo and have loved it my whole life.
One of my earliest memories is of my parents taking me and my brother to the zoo on Easter and seeing the elephants. I was probably four years old.
To this day, my whole notion of Easter is intrinsically tied to those elephants and the Memphis Zoo — I think about them every spring.
Now, with children of my own, I have sought to both share with them my personal associations of the zoo and provide them with opportunities to develop their own connections. Such is the incredible nature of the zoo that I can take my four-year-old son to see Tyranza, the same elephant I saw when I was four.
When my family visits the zoo, I’ll talk about seeing the elephants on Easter; I’ll reminisce about the herpetarium or the train; or I’ll tell them about the school field trip when zoo staff had my classmates and I measure the height of our vertical jump, the distance of our long jump and the speed of our sprint, and then compared our results to the best from the animal kingdom. (At 10 years old, I could not dash as fast as a cheetah — or even outrun my friend, Denny Williams.)
I’m cognizant that sharing these memories and experiences with my children is an effort in part to keep relevant my own childhood — and, therefore, to have an impact that lives longer than I will.
Being at the Memphis Zoo makes me feel like a kid again, full of wonder and possibility, more than most any other place on earth. And, visiting as a parent, a sensation of doubled memory occurs, where I’m a child and a father both.
Consider in that light your forthcoming Zambezi River Hippo Camp exhibit, which will, no doubt, be an expertly presented attraction that will delight visitors of all ages. One of those baby okapis could be the Easter elephants of my kids’ formative years.
That’s what the Memphis Zoo is to me — and that’s what I knowingly give up when I don’t renew my membership.

I have not been happy with your handling of the dispute over the Overton Park Greensward. I wished the disagreement with the Overton Park Conservancy and concerned citizens had been handled with diplomacy — valuing collaboration and cooperation to solve what is undeniably a real parking problem — rather than lawsuits, recriminations and dismissing the concerns of private citizens.
But, disapproval was the strongest I had felt about it until this week, when the Memphis City Council voted to explicitly give you control over the Greensward to use for parking.
Your organization’s aggressive behavior claiming the Greensward as its turf reminds me of how the zoo has been changing some of the physical interactions between animals and patrons.

When it takes the form of visitors feeding birds or giraffes, I believe it is a worthwhile experience.
But, with camel rides now being offered and patrons able to touch stingrays and sharks, it seems like the Memphis Zoo has pivoted toward a more exploitative relationship with the animals under your care. (It’s the kind of thing I expect to see at some sketchy rural petting zoo rather than at the otherwise elegant and scientifically grounded Memphis Zoo.)
Lately, your organization seems more intent on monetizing individual transactions within the zoo at all costs and growing your footprint by any means necessary — rather than being conservation-minded stewards of the natural resources at your disposal.
I fear the Zoo will not be a good steward of the land the Memphis City Council has ceded to you, if you think of yourself as a property owner rather than an appointed caretaker.
The Memphis Zoo has not been acting as a mutually benefiting component within the Overton Park ecosystem but rather as an apex predator at the top of a food chain.
By my reckoning, Memphis’ citizens belong at the top of the food chain in this public park.
For the City Council to crown a private victor in the land battle over the public Greensward, rather than let the mediation process play out, is appalling to me.
Alas, I can’t cancel my membership to the Memphis City Council.
My frustration over City Council’s actions is not your fault at the Memphis Zoo — well, I believe the root cause is your fault, but the council members are the ones I will hold accountable for circumventing the transparent mediation process already underway and sponsored by Mayor Jim Strickland.
Trust, like memberships, must be renewed.
Right now, I don’t trust how the Memphis Zoo is being run. And, I’m surprised how quickly a lifelong accumulation of goodwill can be squandered.
The Memphis Zoo doesn’t have a monopoly on places people can go with loved ones to create experiences worth remembering.
Elephants famously have terrific long-term memories.
So do Memphians.
Click to expand...
 
Perhaps this may be the active thread where Zambezi Hippo Camp will be completed!
 
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