Nashville Zoo at Grassmere
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| Nashville Zoo at Grassmere | |
| Date opened | 1996 |
| Location | Nashville, Tennessee, USA |
| Land area | 200 acres (0.8 km²) |
| Accreditations/ Memberships |
AZA |
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The Nashville Zoo at Grassmere is a zoo and historic plantation farmhouse located six miles (10 km) southeast of downtown Nashville, Tennessee.
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[edit] Background
The Nashville Zoo at Grassmere was founded in 1996, the result of a merger between two upstart competing facilities, The Nashville Zoo (located in nearby Ashland City) and Grassmere Wildlife Park (which was located at the zoo's present location). The resulting facility has been engineered to grow so as to take maximum advantage of its 200 acres (800,000 m²).
On the grounds of the zoo facilities, the property still maintains the original historic plantation house, called Grassmere. Visitors to the zoo can also tour this historic home and the associated farm. In addition, the zoo also sports the "Jungle Gym," the largest community-built playground of its kind in the country, created in 1998. Thousands of volunteers worked together to build a vast array of slides, cargo netting, swings and climbing structures for children.
[edit] Current Exhibits
The zoo contains a number of exhibits including:
- The Gibbon Island - Featuring White-Cheeked Gibbon and Siamang
- The African Savanna - Featuring Masai Giraffes and African Elephants
- The Unseen New World - An indoor exhibit area featuring numerous reptiles, amphibians, and insects
- The Bamboo Trail - Featuring the Red Panda, Clouded Leopards, Rhinocerous Hornbill, and Schmidt's Guenon, among others.
Other exhibit areas provide homes for many other native and exotic animals including Bengal Tigers, Golden Eagles, Cougar, Cheetah, Meerkat, and numerous others.
[edit] New Exhibits
- The Giraffe Savanna opened in April of 2006 featuring three rare Masai giraffes.
- Lorikeet Landing opened in fall of 2005 featuring a variety of Lorikeet species along with two species of Touraco and a Tragopan. This new aviary allows visitors to interact directly with the birds while feeding them nectar.
- The Alligator Cove opened on July 22nd, 2006.
- A Red River Hog exhibit in the savanna area is scheduled to open within the next year.
- An Ocelot exhibit is slated for the near future.
[edit] Species Conservation Efforts
The zoo is active in numerous research and conservation activities including participating in a number of the programs in the Species Survival Plan which is managed by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
[edit] Gallery
 Bongo at the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere. |
 Clouded Leopard at the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere. |
 Clouded Leopard at the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere. |
 Meerkat at the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere. |
 Rainbow Lorikeet eats nectar at the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere. |
 Red panda at the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere. |
 Rhinoceros Hornbill at the Nashville Zoo at Grassmere. |
 Red Panda at the Nashville Zoo |
[edit] External links
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Conservation biology | List of zoos | List of zoo associations | Zoological Garden | Menagerie | Tourist attraction | Wildlife Conservation | Endangered species |
