I visited Knoxville today for the first time in over a decade. I'm a reptile enthusiast and had to see the ARC. No way I miss a facility with that kind of hype less than 3 hours drive away.
Here are things that stood out to me:
The newer Asian section was really impressive. During my last visit, they has some pretty bad exhibits for tigers and various primates between Africa and the ape exhibits. I believe some were corn silos. Not anymore. The repurposed former rhino exhibit (as I recall) is now the Asian section. IMO the gibbon exhibit was one of if not the best I've seen. Lots of height and enrichment there, and the animals were quite active. The multi-level viewing was also big plus. The tiger, langur and crane exhibits were impressive as well, particularly the tiger. It was a large enclosure with bamboo (this zoo has a thing for bamboo) to hide in/walk though and plenty of water for swimming.
The African section ie the megafauna holding is a bit dated. The elephant partitions were rusty and the building was very institutional. Tonka, the bull was still an extremely impressive animal. Relatively average exhibits for giraffes, zebras, and rhinos. I enjoyed seeing a ground hornbill here. Wild dogs in another not bad but not great exhibit. The hamadryas baboon and lion exhibits were also a little stale, but not really bad. Well, the outdoor ones at any rate. The indoor holding was kind of bad.
As for the apes, I think this zoo is a somewhat hidden gem. The gorilla and chimp holdings are both seemingly huge and hilly with grassy ground to sit on. They sit in an actual forest with huge bamboo all around (again) making it seem more immersive. For a smaller zoo, they do a great job with chimps and gorillas. The duiker exhibit here is also very good. It's a big enclosure for a smaller antelope species. Overall this is a great section.
As for the ARC, it was a good news/bad news scenario for me. This zoo has to be the tortoise Mecca for zoos not named San Diego. There were plenty of beautiful grassy yards outside the ARC for multiple species according to signage. Unfortunately, not many of them were to be seen. There was no shortage of radiates (a favorite) or Aldabras (plus a mixed species one for both by the old reptile building). Other than that, not much to be seen. No ploughshares, spiders, Burmese mountain tortoises, or Madagascar flat tails. Lots of empty yards. Inside the ARC, the reptile enclosures are very well done. The croc enclosures for the West African dwarfs and Cubans were great. The Cuban on display looked impressive and large. Inside the gallery, the highlight for me was the Ethiopian mountain viper, which I've never seen. It didn't disappoint, and neither did the Mangshan vipers next door. The greenhouse area for tortoises was another mixed bag. It's so well planted that it's nearly impossible to find any animals. I saw a few hiding under colacasia leaves and palms here and there, but found nothing in most of the exhibits. It's also tough to tell what species you're even looking for, as there's no real correlated signage for the greenhouse exhibits. It's not a visitor-friendly area if the visitor wants to see tortoises, but it's well done from a tortoise keeping perspective for sure. It seemed like most animals there were Asian forest species, but I'm not sure.
I think that despite the mild letdown with the ARC, Knoxville is a zoo that has a lot of potential. They surely have some antiquated areas, but seem to be gradually addressing them fairly quickly. They also have the benefit of a sizable area to develop if they want to grow. I look forward to seeing what this place looks like in another 10 years.
