Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
The place behind the visit.
A city park, an Egyptian gate and more than a century of change offer several ways into the story of the Memphis Zoo.
On this page
A zoo in a city park
The Memphis Zoo was established in 1906 in Overton Park, in Midtown Memphis, with money from the Memphis Park Commission. The land still belongs to the City of Memphis.
The zoo covers 76 acres, about 55 of them developed, and is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
The Avenue of the Animals
The main entrance was renovated in 1990 with an Egyptian design modelled on the Avenue of Sphinxes. Inside, the zoo’s exhibits are arranged in three zones.
Habitats opened over the decades include the Herpetarium in 1960, Cat Country in 1993, Primate Canyon in 1995, Northwest Passage in 2006, Teton Trek in 2009 and Zambezi River Hippo Camp in 2016.
A zoo today
Today the zoo is home to more than 3,500 animals. The Memphis Zoological Society runs its gift shops, and their proceeds support the zoo.
This history belongs to the place and the people who shaped it. The History page offers a longer introduction, and the timeline gives a short route through selected milestones.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
