Day 22 – Memphis Zoo
Memphis is an interesting zoo to me as there are several things I quite like about it, and I find that I tend to spend a lot of time at those exhibits and get a lot of decent photos. At the same time, there are some parts of it that are really not stellar. Those weaker sections definitely weigh the zoo down, but I’d still rank it as one of my personal favourites. Not saying that it should be discussed as one of the best, just that it is one I really enjoy.
Cat Country
As soon as I arrive I head straight for this section. You start with a fairly large habitat for a pair of fishing cats, I appreciate this exhibit as it is one of the few that offers a decent chance to photograph this species. From there you arrive a moderately sized tiger yard. The yard employs the ruined temple theme on the side, but the main area is nice, with a waterfall in the background that runs into a creek through the middle of the habitat. That creek flows into a large body of water at the front, which the cats can access. The enclosure rotates inhabitants, on my visit it was home to three tigers including a white tiger and a butterscotch mixed colour tiger. Amur leopards and jaguars have the next two exhibits, and these are probably the weakest exhibits in the section. They have some space and a basic level of climbing opportunities but neither are particularly inspirational. Other inhabitants in this area include red pandas, snow leopards, cougars, caracal’s and cheetahs. While most of the exhibits range in the category of decent and not exceptional, they are a step up from cages and in most cases offer some form of enrichment and natural substrate. There is a lot of day light available, which in combination with the variety of species makes this a very enjoyable visit. The section ends with a standard lion exhibit viewed via moat that is home to three lions.
Primate Canyon
To use modern terminology, this section is somewhat meh. Gorillas have a slight more spacious and decent habitat than I saw the previous day at Audubon, but not by a lot. Orangutans have a decently sized yard with some climbing structures. The bonobo exhibit is accessed separately from this area, and I wasn’t terribly impressed with the viewing of it. There is decent diversity in this section, colobus monkeys, lemurs (off exhibit due to cooler temperature on my visit), and a very entertaining baby spot-nosed guenon. The openness and collection in this section is its biggest asset as none of the exhibits are especially inspiring.
Zambezi River Hippo Camp
This is the newest section of the zoo and it a masterfully designed area. You enter by a large enclosure for flamingos, that including several young birds. From there you pass several decent habitats for mandrills and okapi, both of which were off exhibit during my visit. This leads to the stars of the section; the first view of the hippos is a glimpse of their grazing area. You then enter a long tunnel that has multiple underwater viewing windows of the hippos. The walk way has slight bends in it which means that guests can see the hippos from almost any of the windows. You then come to a pavilion that offers educational information on hippos and allows guests to ascend to an upper level where they can look down on the hippos. A similar set up exists for the neighbouring Nile crocodiles. From here you can enter an aviary, which closed on my visit. I was particularly impressed with this section, the hippos have lot of space both in water and grazing area. The surface of the grazing area wasn’t completely ideal, there were some sandy areas with the rest being hard surfaced. I think this exhibit offers excellent viewing options, whereas Dallas had an extended area to view the hippos above water and Cincinnati contrasts that with additional underwater viewing windows but very limited above water views, Memphis provides both. I would speculate that this exhibit can facilitate large crowds a lot more efficiently than Cincinnati. The difference between the new hippo exhibit and the previous exhibit that I saw two years ago is astounding.
African Veldt
From the very good to the… not very good. After seeing the elephant exhibits in Dallas, Houston and Sedgwick, this exhibit is especially poor. Three African elephants are confined to small dusty yards that lack any form of imagination. Their exhibit is neighboured by a rhino habitat that is also challenged for size. The elephant exhibit is not as bad as the hippo exhibit was prior to the exhibit, but it is close. The rest of the veldt is home to zebras, bongos, giraffes amongst others. While there are no redeeming qualities for the elephants, for the bongo and giraffe exhibits there are at least a decent number of animals at the zoo. The giraffes in particular where enjoyable to watch with three very young giraffes amongst the herd. The whole section however is in need of a facelift.
China
This section is beautifully themed and has some nice design features. However, it is undermined by the lacklustre exhibit for its primary draw, giant pandas. I am particularly disappointed by how small the one outdoor yard is. The indoor habitats are also rather limited in both space and inspiration.
Northwest Passage
In addition to sea lions, ravens and bald eagles, this section is highlighted by average exhibits for polar bears and black bears. The exhibits are moderately sized, but do have some naturalistic features. On my visit the polar bear exhibit was inhabited by black bears as they are currently rotating that larger exhibit between the black bears and the male polar bear while the female polar bear is behind scenes with hopes that she may be pregnant.
Teton Trek
This section is another favourite of mine. After passing by an amazing wood lodge that is apparently dedicated for special events/weddings, you begin up a walkway passing a decently sized wolf habitat. From there you come to one of my favourite grizzly exhibits. The bears have a very yard large that has a water fall at the back of the exhibit that flows into a decently sized pool at the front. Progressing down the pathway you can view the bears underwater. This exhibit is strong in space, naturalism and enrichment. I particularly enjoy it as you get a variety of vantage points as the walkway brings you up by the water fall and out on the other side of the exhibit, basically going in a circle around it and offering you views most of the way.
Animals of the Night
Just an edit to mention the night house at Memphis. I don't normally spend much time on nocturnal sections, as they aren't exactly photo friendly. I was quite impressed though with the Memphis night section. There was a decent number of species in spacious habitats.
For cats, hippos and grizzlies Memphis offers some of my favourite habitats. The strength of the zoo is undermined by some of it other exhibits, particularly it’s African section. These limitations prevent Memphis from being discussed amongst the elite zoos in the nation, but the three exhibits I mentioned at the start are more than enough to draw me back there again and again.
Memphis is an interesting zoo to me as there are several things I quite like about it, and I find that I tend to spend a lot of time at those exhibits and get a lot of decent photos. At the same time, there are some parts of it that are really not stellar. Those weaker sections definitely weigh the zoo down, but I’d still rank it as one of my personal favourites. Not saying that it should be discussed as one of the best, just that it is one I really enjoy.
Cat Country
As soon as I arrive I head straight for this section. You start with a fairly large habitat for a pair of fishing cats, I appreciate this exhibit as it is one of the few that offers a decent chance to photograph this species. From there you arrive a moderately sized tiger yard. The yard employs the ruined temple theme on the side, but the main area is nice, with a waterfall in the background that runs into a creek through the middle of the habitat. That creek flows into a large body of water at the front, which the cats can access. The enclosure rotates inhabitants, on my visit it was home to three tigers including a white tiger and a butterscotch mixed colour tiger. Amur leopards and jaguars have the next two exhibits, and these are probably the weakest exhibits in the section. They have some space and a basic level of climbing opportunities but neither are particularly inspirational. Other inhabitants in this area include red pandas, snow leopards, cougars, caracal’s and cheetahs. While most of the exhibits range in the category of decent and not exceptional, they are a step up from cages and in most cases offer some form of enrichment and natural substrate. There is a lot of day light available, which in combination with the variety of species makes this a very enjoyable visit. The section ends with a standard lion exhibit viewed via moat that is home to three lions.
Primate Canyon
To use modern terminology, this section is somewhat meh. Gorillas have a slight more spacious and decent habitat than I saw the previous day at Audubon, but not by a lot. Orangutans have a decently sized yard with some climbing structures. The bonobo exhibit is accessed separately from this area, and I wasn’t terribly impressed with the viewing of it. There is decent diversity in this section, colobus monkeys, lemurs (off exhibit due to cooler temperature on my visit), and a very entertaining baby spot-nosed guenon. The openness and collection in this section is its biggest asset as none of the exhibits are especially inspiring.
Zambezi River Hippo Camp
This is the newest section of the zoo and it a masterfully designed area. You enter by a large enclosure for flamingos, that including several young birds. From there you pass several decent habitats for mandrills and okapi, both of which were off exhibit during my visit. This leads to the stars of the section; the first view of the hippos is a glimpse of their grazing area. You then enter a long tunnel that has multiple underwater viewing windows of the hippos. The walk way has slight bends in it which means that guests can see the hippos from almost any of the windows. You then come to a pavilion that offers educational information on hippos and allows guests to ascend to an upper level where they can look down on the hippos. A similar set up exists for the neighbouring Nile crocodiles. From here you can enter an aviary, which closed on my visit. I was particularly impressed with this section, the hippos have lot of space both in water and grazing area. The surface of the grazing area wasn’t completely ideal, there were some sandy areas with the rest being hard surfaced. I think this exhibit offers excellent viewing options, whereas Dallas had an extended area to view the hippos above water and Cincinnati contrasts that with additional underwater viewing windows but very limited above water views, Memphis provides both. I would speculate that this exhibit can facilitate large crowds a lot more efficiently than Cincinnati. The difference between the new hippo exhibit and the previous exhibit that I saw two years ago is astounding.
African Veldt
From the very good to the… not very good. After seeing the elephant exhibits in Dallas, Houston and Sedgwick, this exhibit is especially poor. Three African elephants are confined to small dusty yards that lack any form of imagination. Their exhibit is neighboured by a rhino habitat that is also challenged for size. The elephant exhibit is not as bad as the hippo exhibit was prior to the exhibit, but it is close. The rest of the veldt is home to zebras, bongos, giraffes amongst others. While there are no redeeming qualities for the elephants, for the bongo and giraffe exhibits there are at least a decent number of animals at the zoo. The giraffes in particular where enjoyable to watch with three very young giraffes amongst the herd. The whole section however is in need of a facelift.
China
This section is beautifully themed and has some nice design features. However, it is undermined by the lacklustre exhibit for its primary draw, giant pandas. I am particularly disappointed by how small the one outdoor yard is. The indoor habitats are also rather limited in both space and inspiration.
Northwest Passage
In addition to sea lions, ravens and bald eagles, this section is highlighted by average exhibits for polar bears and black bears. The exhibits are moderately sized, but do have some naturalistic features. On my visit the polar bear exhibit was inhabited by black bears as they are currently rotating that larger exhibit between the black bears and the male polar bear while the female polar bear is behind scenes with hopes that she may be pregnant.
Teton Trek
This section is another favourite of mine. After passing by an amazing wood lodge that is apparently dedicated for special events/weddings, you begin up a walkway passing a decently sized wolf habitat. From there you come to one of my favourite grizzly exhibits. The bears have a very yard large that has a water fall at the back of the exhibit that flows into a decently sized pool at the front. Progressing down the pathway you can view the bears underwater. This exhibit is strong in space, naturalism and enrichment. I particularly enjoy it as you get a variety of vantage points as the walkway brings you up by the water fall and out on the other side of the exhibit, basically going in a circle around it and offering you views most of the way.
Animals of the Night
Just an edit to mention the night house at Memphis. I don't normally spend much time on nocturnal sections, as they aren't exactly photo friendly. I was quite impressed though with the Memphis night section. There was a decent number of species in spacious habitats.
For cats, hippos and grizzlies Memphis offers some of my favourite habitats. The strength of the zoo is undermined by some of it other exhibits, particularly it’s African section. These limitations prevent Memphis from being discussed amongst the elite zoos in the nation, but the three exhibits I mentioned at the start are more than enough to draw me back there again and again.
