04/18/09

Not much of a "zoo"

by Veronica333

This could barely be called a zoo. Sure there are some animals but you have to hike to get from one to another. When you do get to an exhibit you have about as much chance of seeing an animal there as you do if you're hiking in the wild. There aren't a lot of impressive exhibits, either, though there are a couple. Like the white tiger, if you can find it. The elephants are always too far away. The giraffes seem to be the only exhibit right sized for seeing the animals.

If you have little children the experience can be boring or frustrating for them, depending on how badly they wanted to see some animals. Really this is just a long, expensive walk.

• Pros: nice indoor exhibits
• Cons: not much else, now they're charging the 2 yr olds

09/05/08

Where are the animals?

by AyatiN

I have lived in Middle TN for 29 years and never went to the Nasville Zoo just because of what it looked like from the entrance. Not much to write or talk about. Finally in August I decided to take my daughter, my cousin and her kids there for the ICE event. I thought the entrance price was reasonable. My first thought was, "were are the animals?" We had to literally SEARCH for the animals. The kids were asking us what were they suppose to be looking at. The best area was the AFrica safari area where the giraffes and elephants were. There are WAY too many trees and bamboos....it should be called the Greenhouse instead of the Zoo. But for Nashville, TN I guess that's as good as it gets.

05/23/08

Nice and getting Nicer

by fly46

Okay, I grew up sandwiched between Erie, PA and Cleveland, Oh. The Cleveland zoo is large and has the Rainforest bio dome. The Erie Zoo manages to make up just 15 acres...

But I'm not entirely sure you should compare Nashville to those zoos... First of all, N'ville's layout is much better. The animals are spread out in natural looking enclosures instead of smushed in rows of cages.

No, there aren't currently a lot of animals, but the zoo is on phase 1 of a 4 phase plan to massively increase their size and exhibits. Also, the zoo has 100 acres currently developed and is on the way to developing the other 100 acres.

Also, in addition to the zoo animals, there's a historical home (Tours are April-October, plus Christmas weekends, then Memorial Day - Labor Day all week long...) with it's out buildings, gardens and cemeteries, and the farm.

So yeah, the price is a little higher than some 'zoos', but there's a uniqueness to Nashville that makes the zoo worthwhile.

• Pros: Croft House and increasing size
• Cons: a little pricier than other zoos

05/22/07

Nice place

by rocket41

Like many of the other reviewers have said, the Nashville Zoo doesn't have some of the animals you would expect to see at a zoo. However, it is a really nice place to go. The animals they do have are active and interesting. There are lots of oppportunities to learn more about them. The best things about the zoo are the facilities and environment. The animal enclosures are very nice.....no steel cages. They have an onsite cafe with virtually anything you or you kids would want to eat. Its very shady, so you're not just walking around on scorching pavement all day. Overall, a good deal for the price.

• Pros: facilities & environment
• Cons: few animals

03/21/07

The animals are few and far between...literally

by avalonrose

The Nashville Zoo is kind of a sucky zoo if you compare it to "real" zoos like Memphis and even Birmingham. But you'd be better off not comparing it to those zoos, because it would make you weep with frustration. Really, the Nashville Zoo would be better off NOT calling itself a zoo at all, because it's more like an animal sanctuary or, really, a nature trail on which you just happen to see a few animals. I will admit, things are looking up for the Zoo, with the promise of getting several more animals that you might find in a stellar, or even standard, zoo, like hippos and rhinocerus. But we're a long way from competing with even an average zoo. Sure we have some elephants and some giraffe, and those exhibits are really wonderful. But when such random animals as elongs (whatever those are) and meercats are billed as the star exhibit, somethings wrong. The only thing they have close to a gorilla is a gibbon, which was interesting, but honestly, why can't they have gorillas, apes, orangutans, etc? My children were excited about seeing the Bengal tiger, but we were informed that that exhibit wasn't open on the day we went. What a disappointment.

Bottom line....I would advise the Zoo to start getting more animals if it intends to keep calling itself a zoo.

• Pros: Great environment for the animals, better than average facilities like restaurants.
• Cons: Few animals, exhibits are spaced too far from one another. Did I say there were hardly any animals?

Large city zoo featuring cuddling creatures in all shapes in sizes.

by Contributor

In Short
Located on more than 200 pristine, spring-fed acres in the heart of Nashville, Grassmere is the city's primary zoological park. On display are more than 350 animals, including Bengal tigers, zebras, cheetahs, ostriches and river otters. Families will enjoy the old Croft House, built around 1810 and now home to a working farm exhibit and petting zoo. The 66,000-square-foot jungle gym near the amphitheater is a great way to see children in their natural habitat.

04/27/06

One of the best zoos anywhere!

by kaethe

I enjoy visiting zoos, and I've been to quite a few around the country. This is truly one of the best, not only because of the variety of animals here, but because of the way they're obviously cared for. The keepers give talks on a regular basis, and their rapport with the animals is evident. The animal enclosures are, for the most part, quite pleasing to look at and obviously adequate for the animals -- I've never seen animals here looking stressed or displeased with their environments, and, sadly, I've seen a lot of that in other zoos.

Another point worth noting is that the zoo is increasing its programming geared towards adults, which is a wonderful perk for us child-free adults who love animals.

• Pros: clean, well organized, wonderful animals, beautiful enclosures
• Cons: subject to weather

09/12/05

Overpriced

by hotmama1

This zoo is overated. They don't have any big animals. They mostly have birds. All you do is walk through a "jungle of weeds". Be sure to bring bug repelant, this zoo has an ample amount of mosquitoes but not animals! We had planned our vacation around the zoo and boy were we disappointed. The price is a ripoff! I would recommend going somewhere else.

• Pros: didn't see any
• Cons: no open concessions, no big animals, price

01/15/04

A review to balance

by trentgrimit

Nashville is a major large city yet the zoo is the caliber of a much smaller less funded township. Sure it is a great value and very fun for the kids because they do not know better. But let us be honest, our zoo is not one of our adult tourist draws nor is it up to par.

07/24/02

Heartwarming

by callijax

Seeing the animals through the eyes of a child makes you relive that exciting moment you shared with your family years ago.

• Pros: educational, convenient, great surroundings