Giraffes are everywhere at the Chattanooga Zoo.
A giant statue looms over the walking path, smaller sculptures stand in the administration building and long-necked plush toys are popular purchases in the gift shop. But there are no living, breathing giraffes.
Adam Blount, left, and Megan Hillyer walk past a statue of a giraffe along a pathway that will be redesigned, with a giraffe enclosure to the right and lion enclosure to the left, at the Chattanooga Zoo on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The zoo has announced plans for a $10 million project to repurpose areas near the current entrance for a giraffe enclosure, scheduled to be completed in 2018, and a lion enclosure, scheduled for completion in 2020.Notable zoo additions
1987Hyenas: $10,0001996 Jaguars: $200,0002001Chimpanzees as part of Gombe Forest exhibit: $1.9 million2004Red Pandas as part of the Himalayan Passage phase one: $750,000 for phases one and two combined2005Cougars and viewing train car as part of the Cougar Express exhibits: $160,0002006Snow Leopards as part of the Himalayan Passage phase two: $750,000 for phases one and two combined2008Front entry and plaza: $4.2 million2013Foxes, pancake tortoises, sloths, Komodo dragons, Chinese alligators as part of the Deserts and Forests exhibits: $400,000
The Chattanooga Zoo site plan is shown on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015, in Chattanooga
Staff photo by Doug Strickland /
Two red-footed tortoise, whose current enclosure near the gift shop and entrance will be relocated to make room for a lion exhibit, graze at the Chattanooga Zoo on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015, in Chattanooga.Yet.
The zoo is in the midst of raising $10 million for the biggest expansion in its 78-year history. If construction unfolds on schedule, giraffes will roam zoo grounds by 2018 and lions will have a home there by 2020. The expansion will take up nearly half of the zoo’s 14 acres, according to blueprints of the two new exhibits.