Nashville Zoo
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Category: Blog Feature
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Wednesday, September 8, 2021
Releasing Alligator Snapping Turtles
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On August 26, 2021, a team from Nashville Zoo, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA), and the Cumberland River Aquatic Center successfully released 30 alligator snapping turtles into the waters near Wolf River in West Tennessee.
The Release
16 of the 30 alligator snapping turtles released were from Nashville Zoo’s headstart program. These turtles weighed ranging from just under a kilogram to two and a half kilograms prior to release. Each turtle was given a unique individual...
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Tuesday, August 3, 2021
Baby Babirusa Born at Nashville Zoo
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It is another exciting day at Nashville Zoo because we have a baby babirusa! The babirusa piglet was born on July 21, 2021, and her name is Garland. She spent her first few weeks with Tinsel (mom) behind-the-scenes and made her exhibit debut this morning. The piglet had a successful neonatal exam and we have got a healthy little girl!
The day before the piglet was born, Tinsel wanted to be out on exhibit but did not want to be around Dobby (dad). Tinsel spent her entire ...
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Udderly Amazing Heritage Breeds
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Did you know that certain species of cattle are endangered? Many people don’t think of cattle as being endangered, but some even face critical endangerment just like the Sumatran tiger or Mexican spider monkey. Here at Nashville Zoo, the two devon steers at the Grassmere Historic Farm are considered critically endangered due to modern farming techniques and selective cattle breeding. This type of cattle is, therefore, categorized as a heritage breed.
What are heritage breeds?
Heritage ...
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Friday, July 16, 2021
Releasing Hellbenders
This June and July, Nashville Zoo team members waded into the waters of Middle Tennessee to successfully release a total of 29 eastern hellbenders back into the wild. These hellbenders had been raised at the Zoo for the past six years as part of a headstart program, after being collected as eggs from streams in Middle Tennessee.
The Need for the Headstart Program
This hellbender headstart program was started because researchers had observed a decline in juvenile animals in the wild an...
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Coral Conservation at the Zoo
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Help celebrate World Ocean Day by visiting Nashville Zoo’s Florida Reef Tract Coral Conservation Lab to learn more about how you can save coral!
World Ocean Day began as a way to highlight the impact of human activities on the ocean, such as pollution, habitat loss, and overfishing. The ocean covers over 70% of the planet and produces at least 50% of Earth’s oxygen. Although the ocean is one of our most crucial resources, human actions have resulted in the depletion of ...
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Thursday, May 20, 2021
Endangered Species Day
In honor of Endangered Species Day, we're taking a look at some of the most endangered species that call Nashville Zoo home. It may surprise you that all six of our primate species are considered endangered or critically endangered.
Cotton-Top TamarinCritically Endangered
Mexican Spider Monkey Critically Endangered
White-Cheecked Gibbons Critically Endangered
Siamang Endangered
Ring-Tailed Lemur Endangered
Red Ruffed Lemur Critically Endangered
These primate species are f...
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Tuesday, December 1, 2020
Jungle Gym Addition: Promise Park
The Jungle Gym will Soon be Available to Everyone
One of the more popular areas of the Zoo is, arguably, our 66,000 square-foot Jungle Gym playground. Of the 1.26 million guests in the Zoo last year, a good portion of them spent time climbing, swinging, sliding, crawling, and running throughout our play space. All of this use takes its toll on the wooden structures and, inevitably, we must occasionally close for repairs. When we open, the Jungle Gym will offer a new area designed for children...
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Friday, September 18, 2020
Zoo Wins Back-to-Back Exhibit Awards
Nashville Zoo is proud to announce that our Tiger Crossroads exhibit has received Top Honors for the Exhibit Design Award from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. This award was also given to the Zoo in 2019 for our Expedition Peru: Trek of the Andean Bear exhibit. Winning top honors in exhibit design for two years in a row has taken place only two other times in AZA history. The first in 1976 and 1977 at the Saint Louis Zoo. The second was 33 years ago in 1986 and 1987 at the Bronx Zoo.&n...
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Monday, June 29, 2020
Pouch Peeking Provides Pictures of Progress
Last year, keepers at the Nashville Zoo’s Kangaroo Kickabout learned that our mob of Red kangaroos would begin breeding. They developed an ambitious training plan to observe and record kangaroo babies (joeys) throughout the developmental process from birth to emergence from the pouch.
Kangaroos are considered marsupials which means they give birth to a premature fetus that finishes developing while attached to a teat in the mother’s pouch. The pouch is a fold of skin that covers...
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Become a volunteer!
Whether you’re available for a day or are looking for a long-term volunteer opportunity – you can make a valuable contribution to the Zoo’s volunteer team!
Support the Zoo!
Nashville Zoo relies on your support to continue providing extraordinary animal care and education programs for the community, as well as our critical conservation initiatives.