Chehaw Park is a park and zoo located in Albany, Georgia and was an accredited member of AZA from 1997-2018. It's a pretty small zoo and if you can finish it in 30 minutes to an hour depending if you stop to look at anything. It's not my #1 favorite zoo in the world, but I visited it a lot when I lived in Georgia for 3 years and even attended summer camp there. There's only about 40-50 species of animals on display, but a few of them are pretty rare. I decided to make a thread for this under-appreciated zoo because it really doesn't get as much attention on this website as it deserves. So here is a list of animals that are kept on display there.
This list is accurate as of 2016-early 2017. I haven't been to Georgia since that date, so I can't guarantee anything didn't change since then. As of recent though, the zoo has been facing financial problems, so its unlikely anything new was added.
This list is arranged depending on the order of exhibits you would probably see if you were a visitor there.
When you walk through the zoo entrance, on the left, there is a path that leads you to two large open exhibits. Both of these contain:
- Red Wolf
Continue down the Red Wolf path, and you will reach a large swamp. It is completely natural, and many species of wild birds can be found there, along with the zoo's:
- American Alligator
If you go the right when you walk through the zoo entrance, there will be two things: a reptile house and Ben's Barnyard Children's Farm.
The children's farm is home to many domesticated animals which you can feed and touch. There are three enclosures in there:
Exhibit 1:
- Some kind of goat breed (I'm pretty sure African Pygmy?)
- Miniature Jersey Cow
Exhibit 2:
- Vietnamese Pot-Bellied Pig
- Alpaca
Exhibit 3:
- Donkey
The reptile house contains a few exotic and endangered species, along with some native species.
- Burmese Python
- Mangrove Snake
- Copperhead
- Cottonmouth
- Corn snake
- Timber Rattlesnake
- Panther Chameleon
- Guatemalan Beaded Lizard
- Pancake Tortoise
- Colorado River Toad
- Magnificent Tree Frog
- Chilean-Rose Haired Tarantula
- Madagascar Hissing Cockroach
On the side of the reptile house, is also a small open exhibit for:
- Gopher Tortoise
Straight ahead from the zoo entrance is a long walkway, which goes through a forest. On the other side and to the right is a large exhibit with a water moat in front of it, and an aviary.
The large exhibit is home to:
- Black Rhino
The walk-through aviary displays many species of birds from around the world, with one being endangered.
- Lesser Flamingo
- Northern Bald (Waldrapp) Ibis
- African Sacred Ibis
- Cape Thick-Knee
- Mandarin Duck
- Blue-Winged Kookaburra
There is also a small exhibit on the outside of the aviary and to the side on the path which contains:
- Straw-Colored Fruit Bat
If you go down the path past the aviary, there is a bistro, restrooms, a small playground, and another open-aired exhibit for:
- Meerkat
Across from the meerkats is the African Veldt ride, which takes you about half a mile away from the main park, to see free-ranging African animals. You are not guaranteed to see everything, since it is such a large space, and there are plenty of trees and bushes for the animals to hide in. The animals you can encounter here are:
- Common Eland
- Blue (Brindled) Wildebeest
- Impala
- Common Ostrich
- Gray Crowned Crane
- Plains Zebra (kept separate from the rest of the animals)
Go past the meerkat exhibit and boarding station for the African Veldt, and you will see an exhibit, with a long field with hills inside of it. It is home to:
- Cheetah
Keep following the path past the cheetah exhibit and the path will curve leading you to another large exhibit which is home to:
- Domestic Bactrian Camel
The path continues on a bridge, which stretches through another swamp. When you get to the other side, you will then reach two exhibits.
The one on the left is an closed-top exhibit that houses a troop of:
- Mantled Guereza
The exhibit on the right is a enclosure made out of a short rock wall. I'm pretty sure it holds Visayan Warty Pigs right now, but this exhibit was under construction when I went there for the last time. During summer camp though, we got to go behind-the-scenes and I saw where they were being held.
Up ahead a little further and on the right is a large exhibit home to several:
- American Black Bear
Go up the path a little more, and you will reach a glass-viewing area for:
- Ring-Tailed Lemur
- Red Ruffed Lemur
- Black-and-White Ruffed Lemur
Way up ahead to the right is a bridge that lets you have a better view of the lemur's huge exhibit. At the end of the bridge is a dead-end with two exhibits for:
- Bald Eagle
- Bobcat
Walk off the bridge and turn right. It will take you down a winding path through the forest, where you can enjoy the beauty of nature, and maybe even see a native species of wild animal.
The path eventually takes you right back to where you started at the African Veldt area. Right as you're about to exit the path, there is a small exhibit that contains:
- White-Nosed Coati
- African Spurred Tortoise
There is also a large field right next to the meerkat exhibit that houses:
- Red Kangaroo
- Emu
This is a full list of what they had on display when I last was there, but that's not the full list of animals they own. Several interesting species are kept off-display, but I was lucky enough to see them all when I attended summer camp there. I don't remember all of them, but the ones I do remember are:
- Yellow-Backed Duiker
- European Polecat
- Four-Toed Hedgehog
- Domestic Guinea Pig
- Brown Rat
- Southern Flying Squirrel
- Marabou Stork
- Red-Shouldered Hawk
- Common Barn Owl
- Eastern Screech Owl
- Red Junglefowl
- Emerald Tree Boa
This list is accurate as of 2016-early 2017. I haven't been to Georgia since that date, so I can't guarantee anything didn't change since then. As of recent though, the zoo has been facing financial problems, so its unlikely anything new was added.
This list is arranged depending on the order of exhibits you would probably see if you were a visitor there.
When you walk through the zoo entrance, on the left, there is a path that leads you to two large open exhibits. Both of these contain:
- Red Wolf
Continue down the Red Wolf path, and you will reach a large swamp. It is completely natural, and many species of wild birds can be found there, along with the zoo's:
- American Alligator
If you go the right when you walk through the zoo entrance, there will be two things: a reptile house and Ben's Barnyard Children's Farm.
The children's farm is home to many domesticated animals which you can feed and touch. There are three enclosures in there:
Exhibit 1:
- Some kind of goat breed (I'm pretty sure African Pygmy?)
- Miniature Jersey Cow
Exhibit 2:
- Vietnamese Pot-Bellied Pig
- Alpaca
Exhibit 3:
- Donkey
The reptile house contains a few exotic and endangered species, along with some native species.
- Burmese Python
- Mangrove Snake
- Copperhead
- Cottonmouth
- Corn snake
- Timber Rattlesnake
- Panther Chameleon
- Guatemalan Beaded Lizard
- Pancake Tortoise
- Colorado River Toad
- Magnificent Tree Frog
- Chilean-Rose Haired Tarantula
- Madagascar Hissing Cockroach
On the side of the reptile house, is also a small open exhibit for:
- Gopher Tortoise
Straight ahead from the zoo entrance is a long walkway, which goes through a forest. On the other side and to the right is a large exhibit with a water moat in front of it, and an aviary.
The large exhibit is home to:
- Black Rhino
The walk-through aviary displays many species of birds from around the world, with one being endangered.
- Lesser Flamingo
- Northern Bald (Waldrapp) Ibis
- African Sacred Ibis
- Cape Thick-Knee
- Mandarin Duck
- Blue-Winged Kookaburra
There is also a small exhibit on the outside of the aviary and to the side on the path which contains:
- Straw-Colored Fruit Bat
If you go down the path past the aviary, there is a bistro, restrooms, a small playground, and another open-aired exhibit for:
- Meerkat
Across from the meerkats is the African Veldt ride, which takes you about half a mile away from the main park, to see free-ranging African animals. You are not guaranteed to see everything, since it is such a large space, and there are plenty of trees and bushes for the animals to hide in. The animals you can encounter here are:
- Common Eland
- Blue (Brindled) Wildebeest
- Impala
- Common Ostrich
- Gray Crowned Crane
- Plains Zebra (kept separate from the rest of the animals)
Go past the meerkat exhibit and boarding station for the African Veldt, and you will see an exhibit, with a long field with hills inside of it. It is home to:
- Cheetah
Keep following the path past the cheetah exhibit and the path will curve leading you to another large exhibit which is home to:
- Domestic Bactrian Camel
The path continues on a bridge, which stretches through another swamp. When you get to the other side, you will then reach two exhibits.
The one on the left is an closed-top exhibit that houses a troop of:
- Mantled Guereza
The exhibit on the right is a enclosure made out of a short rock wall. I'm pretty sure it holds Visayan Warty Pigs right now, but this exhibit was under construction when I went there for the last time. During summer camp though, we got to go behind-the-scenes and I saw where they were being held.
Up ahead a little further and on the right is a large exhibit home to several:
- American Black Bear
Go up the path a little more, and you will reach a glass-viewing area for:
- Ring-Tailed Lemur
- Red Ruffed Lemur
- Black-and-White Ruffed Lemur
Way up ahead to the right is a bridge that lets you have a better view of the lemur's huge exhibit. At the end of the bridge is a dead-end with two exhibits for:
- Bald Eagle
- Bobcat
Walk off the bridge and turn right. It will take you down a winding path through the forest, where you can enjoy the beauty of nature, and maybe even see a native species of wild animal.
The path eventually takes you right back to where you started at the African Veldt area. Right as you're about to exit the path, there is a small exhibit that contains:
- White-Nosed Coati
- African Spurred Tortoise
There is also a large field right next to the meerkat exhibit that houses:
- Red Kangaroo
- Emu
This is a full list of what they had on display when I last was there, but that's not the full list of animals they own. Several interesting species are kept off-display, but I was lucky enough to see them all when I attended summer camp there. I don't remember all of them, but the ones I do remember are:
- Yellow-Backed Duiker
- European Polecat
- Four-Toed Hedgehog
- Domestic Guinea Pig
- Brown Rat
- Southern Flying Squirrel
- Marabou Stork
- Red-Shouldered Hawk
- Common Barn Owl
- Eastern Screech Owl
- Red Junglefowl
- Emerald Tree Boa
