Riverbanks Zoo

The Riverbanks Zoo and Garden is a 170-acre (69 ha) zoo, aquarium, and botanical garden located along the Saluda River in Columbia, South Carolina, USA. A small portion of the zoo extends into the nearby city of West Columbia. It is operated by the Rich-Lex Riverbanks Park Special Purpose District, a partnership of the city of Columbia and Richland and Lexington counties. It is overseen by the Riverbanks Park Commission, comprising two members each from the three governments and one at-large member.

Riverbanks Zoo and Garden is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).

History

In the early 1960s, Columbia-area businessmen conceived of a zoo for the state capital. However, the idea didn't get beyond the planning stages until 1969, when the state created the Rich-Lex Riverbanks Park Special Purpose District to run the proposed zoo. The zoo opened on April 25, 1974. Within two years, it was obvious that the zoo would not be self-supporting, and the Riverbanks Zoological Society was created to help raise money for it. At the same time, Palmer "Satch" Krantz was appointed executive director, a post he still holds today.^[2]

Riverbanks Zoo and Garden is South Carolina's largest gated attraction, averaging over one million visitors each year—a considerable amount for a zoo serving a region as small as Columbia (the Columbia metropolitan area has only 800,000 people).^[2] Riverbanks is a four-time winner of the Southeastern Tourism Society's Shining Example Award as the Southeast's top tourist attraction and a two-time winner of the SC Parks Recreation and Tourism Governor's Cup Award as South Carolina's Leading Attraction.

Animals and Exhibits

A giraffe being fed at an overlook in 'Africa Plains'.

A male lion at Riverbanks

The zoo is home to over 2,000 animals, with collections of mammals, birds, reptiles, and fish. Recent additions to the Zoo include exhibits for African elephants, gorillas, and koalas. The Birdhouse at Riverbanks (opened 2002) was given a Significant Achievement Award by the AZA as one of the best new zoo exhibits in the United States and features a display of king, rockhopper, and gentoo penguins.

African Plains is a 2-acre (0.81 ha) exhibit featuring giraffe, Grant's zebra, and ostrich.^[3]

The Aquarium Reptile Complex is a 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m²) building with a 50,000-US-gallon (190,000 L) tank for Pacific coral reef species, as well as exhibits for Galapagos tortoises, false gharials, Komodo dragons, and other reptiles.^[4]

Opened in 2002,^[5] Ndoki Forest houses two of the larger African species, the African elephant and western lowland gorilla, as well as de Brazza's monkey, slender-tailed meerkat, and various birds.^[6] The elephants live in a ¹⁄₂-acre (0.20 ha) yard with a 250,000-US-gallon (950,000 L) pool.^[5]

Riverbanks Farm contains domestic animals and allows guests to feed the zoo's goats. Lemur Island is an exhibit including ring-tailed lemurs and red-ruffed lemurs. Conservation Outpost has threatened species such as howler monkeys, fishing cats, and tree kangaroos.

Kangaroo Walkabout is another recent addition. It has a path leading into the exhibit where visitors can view wallabies and red kangaroos without a barrier between them. However, visitors cannot stray from the path.

The Riverbanks Zoo has added a Malayan tapir on January 18, 2013, and a breeding pair of babirusas in 2012. The babirusas have successfully been bred and can be found in the previous warthog exhibit.

Separate exhibits include Hamadryas baboons, hyenas, lions, Siberian tigers, meerkats, alligators, and siamangs.

The last original animal who had been there since the zoo's opening, a female Caribbean flamingo, died in March 2014.^[7]

The Birmingham Zoo's western lowland gorilla, Cenzoo will be breeding with a female gorilla from North Carolina Zoo and two more female gorillas from Zoo Atlanta as part of the recommendation of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Species Survival Plan.

Botanical Garden

Riverbanks also has a 70-acre (28 ha) botanical garden with more than 4,200 species of native and exotic plants. A trail system lets visitors explore several kilometers of bottomland and upland mixed hardwood forests in search of the of native wildlife that call the Zoo and Garden home.

See also

• List of botanical gardens in the United States

Notes

External links

• Media related to Riverbanks Zoo and Garden at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website