Georgia Natural Wonder #270 - Zoo Atlanta

[Top Row Dawg]

Georgia Natural Wonder #270 - Zoo Atlanta

Grant Park deserved it's own designation as a Georgia Natural Wonder as demonstrated in my last post. Zoo Atlanta, within Grant Park deserves it's own designation as a separate Georgia Natural Wonder. I went to the Atlanta Zoo on my birthday with my twin daughters and their childhood friend. Well worth the admission and parking. Multiple images procured, nothing more Natural Wonder than exotic animals in a World Class Zoo.

 

The Kinks provide us our TRD Scrolling Nugget.



History

Zoo Atlanta was founded in 1889, when Lumber tradesman George Valentine Gress purchased a bankrupt traveling circus and donated the animals to the city of Atlanta. He was a Member of the Georgia House of Representatives for Wilcox County. City leaders opted to house the collection in Grant Park, which remains the zoo's present location. Original residents of the zoo included a black bear, a raccoon, a jaguar, a hyena, a gazelle, a Mexican hog, lionesses, monkeys, and camels. 

  
Vintage images Atlanta Zoo. 

Community involvement was part of the Zoo’s life from the beginning, with private citizens donating animals and Atlanta newspapers heralding new arrivals and spearheading fund drives. The largest of these resulted in the introduction of Clio, the Zoo’s first elephant, in 1890. 



The park’s grandest collection boost occurred over 40 years later when an unusual stalemate proved fortuitous for the Zoo. By that time, philanthropist Asa G. Candler, Jr. had accumulated an impressively large private menagerie on his estate on Briarcliff Road. (GNW #252) Candler’s neighbors were less tolerant of the animals, whose sounds, smells and occasional forays off the property tried the community’s patience.

 

Already acquainted with Grant Park through previous animal donations, Candler proposed a solution for his problematic hobby. He would donate his wild things to the Zoo, provided the city raised sufficient funds to house and maintain them. Faced with the prospect of accepting a donation that would more than double the size of the Zoo, the city shifted into its first major fundraising campaign for the destination. 



In 1935, the park swelled with the arrival of the entire Briarcliff Road collection, which included elephants, leopards, water buffalo, elk, zebra, birds, a hyena and a sea lion, not to mention Jimmie Walker, Grant Park’s first tiger. 

 
Image of the actual Jimmy Walker not the Jimmy Walker we all know. 

The 1950s and 1960s were decades of renovation and construction at the zoo, but by the early 1970s, many of its exhibits and facilities were outdated and showing signs of disrepair. 



1970's Atlanta Municipal Zoo

This was back when I visited the Zoo as a child and teenager. In the 1970s the Municipal Zoo, was a beloved but struggling institution in Grant Park, famous for its iconic gorilla, Willie B., but facing financial hardship and outdated facilities, leading to calls for major improvements and setting the stage for its later transformation into a modern zoo by the 1980s.


They had a big sea lion pool. The Aquarium holds a collection now.

 
They had Polar Bears baking in the Georgia sun. 

Sun was rough on Brown Georgia Bears too.


Elephant habitat back then.
  

The Zoo's silverback gorilla, Willie B., was a huge celebrity and a major draw for visitors, embodying the zoo experience for many Atlantan's during this decade. Named for Atlanta Mayor William B. Hartsfield. Hartsfield had airport named after him too. 

At the time of his death at Zoo Atlanta in 2000, Willie B. was arguably the most famous gorilla in the world. Locally, he was an icon with more than 8,000 people in attendance at his memorial service conducted by Atlanta’s Mayor, Reverend Andrew Young. 

 
He would just sit there mostly unless you messed with the vertical hold on his TV. Saw a fellow turn those back of the set controls through the bars and he got agitated. I made sure they were fixed before I left my visit.  

Zoo Atlanta’s reform President/CEO, Georgia Tech Professor Terry Maple, was responsible for Willie B.’s transformation into a successful silverback. In a phrase, Professor Maple freed Willie B. to live in an urban Eden, the Ford African Rain Forest exhibit where he sired five off spring.

 

In 1970, a small group of concerned citizens founded the Atlanta Zoological Society in hopes of raising funds and awareness for the institution.

 
Zoo of my youth.

The Spirit bring us to the modern era with our 2nd TRD Scrolling Nugget.

 

Following a period of decline in the mid-1980s, the zoo was privatized in 1985 with the creation of a nonprofit organization, Atlanta Fulton County Zoo Inc., and was renamed Zoo Atlanta that same year. 



A 20-year period of aggressive restoration followed, marked by several high-profile exhibit openings, including The Ford African Rain Forest, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. A pair of giant pandas, Lun Lun and Yang Yang, arrived at Zoo Atlanta in 1999 and made their debut at Zoo Atlanta in 1999. 

 

The Zoo Atlanta has been running strong ever since into the 21st century. Sad China took back the Panda's (Politics and Tariffs?), a lot of visitors came for the Panda's as Atlanta was one of the only four Zoo's in America to have them. But 3rd best Zoo in this part of country behind Tampa and Memphis according to Zoo With Us. 16th best in nation, according average of all ranking sources. The best zoos in the U.S. consistently include the San Diego Zoo, Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo, Bronx Zoo, Saint Louis Zoo, and the Smithsonian's National Zoo. Complaints about Atlanta are that the enclosures are small, not a ton of room for animals.   

Habitats

African Savanna



Zoo Atlanta's African Savanna, opened in 2019 as part of the Zoo's Grand New View transformation, houses wildlife native to the grasslands and desert of Africa, including African elephants, lions, giraffes, plains zebras, ostriches, warthogs, meerkats, white rhinos, kori bustards, and a bontebok.

Scaly Slimy Spectacular: The Amphibian and Reptile Experience



Opened in 2015, Scaly Slimy Spectacular: The Amphibian and Reptile Experience was the world's first LEED Gold-certified amphibian and reptile complex. The complex, which replaced the Zoo's former World of Reptiles, is home to more than 200 animals representing more than 70 species.

Notable reproductive successes include Arakan forest turtles, a critically endangered species harvested nearly to extinction for food and traditional medicine. 

 Arakan forest turtle. 

A rare Guatemalan beaded lizard hatched at Zoo Atlanta in March 2012. 

 Guatemalan beaded lizard named Gene Simmons.

A critically endangered bog turtle hatched at Zoo Atlanta in 2022 for the first time in 30 years.

 Bog Turtles Georgia Quarter.

Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation Giant Panda Conservation Center

From 1999 to 2024, Zoo Atlanta was one of the four institutions in the U.S. that housed giant pandas. The zoo's pandas resided in the Zoo's Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation Giant Panda Conservation Center.

 

Lun Lun (female) and Yang Yang (male) arrived in Atlanta as juveniles in 1999 and resided at the zoo on loan from China until 2024. The pair's first cub, male Mei Lan, was born on September 6, 2006. A second cub, male Xi Lan, was born August 30, 2008. Female Po was born November 3, 2010. Po's name was announced by actor Jack Black in 2011; Po was named after Black's character in the DreamWorks animated film franchise Kung Fu Panda. A fourth and a fifth cub, both female, born July 15, 2013, were the first twin pandas to be born in the U.S. since 1987. 



Their names were announced on ABC's Good Morning America on October 23, 2013; 100 days after their birth, which is a Chinese tradition. The names are Mei Lun and Mei Huan. A sixth and seventh cub, both female, were born September 3, 2016. Their names were announced on their 100th day of life: Ya Lun and Xi Lun. Like their older siblings, the twins and their parents ultimately traveled to China on October 14, 2024. Lun Lun, Yang Yang, Mei Lan, Xi Lan, Po, Mei Lun, Mei Huan, Ya Lun and Xi Lun currently reside at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China.

The Ford African Rain Forest



Families often pose with one of the Willie B. bronze statues at Zoo Atlanta. My gals found Willie B. 

 

Twenty-four western lowland gorillas have been born at the zoo since the opening of The Ford African Rain Forest in 1988. Kali and Kazi, a rare set of twins, were born at Zoo Atlanta on October 31, 2005.



Zoo Atlanta also remains home to offspring of its best-known gorilla, Willie B. (ca. 1959–2000). The zoo is also home to six of Willie B.'s grandchildren: Merry Leigh (2011) and Mijadala (2016), born to Kudzoo; Anaka (2013), born to Sukari; Andi (2013) and Floyd (2019), born to Lulu. Others reside at other accredited zoos.

  
Assorted Willie B. babies. 

Other famous gorillas who have lived at Zoo Atlanta include Ivan, who resided at the Zoo from 1994 to his passing in 2012. 

 
After spending decades in a shopping mall in Tacoma, Washington; his story inspired the book and movie The One and Only Ivan, and he lived out his final years at Zoo Atlanta, experiencing a gorilla community and exploring natural habitats before passing away at age 50.

And Ozzie, who lived at the Zoo from 1988 until his passing in 2022. He was the only surviving member of the original generation of gorillas who arrived at Zoo Atlanta with the opening of The Ford African Rain Forest in 1988. The oldest gorilla at Zoo Atlanta and the third-oldest gorilla in the world.

 Ozzie.

The Living Treehouse is an extension of The Ford African Rain Forest completed in 2004. The exhibit houses an aviary of African birds, as well as black-and-white ruffed lemurs and ring-tailed lemurs, with adjacent habitats for Angolan colobus monkeys, drills, Schmidt's guenons, and Wolf's guenons. In 2017, Zoo Atlanta introduced two crowned lemurs.



Corridor to Change and Complex Carnivores



Corridor to Change is focused on species impacted by the international wildlife trade. The complex is home to sun bears and Sumatran tigers. An adjacent area, Complex Carnivores, houses clouded leopards and binturongs.

Asian Forest



The Asian Forest houses giant otters, a Komodo dragon and a red panda, as well as Bornean and Sumatran orangutans.


The Orangutan Learning Tree Project, launched at Zoo Atlanta in 2007, utilizes in-habitat touch screen technology to allow orangutans to engage in computer puzzles, games and problem-solving exercises while guests observe their activities on a linked monitor.

Orkin Children's Zoo

 
The old Children's Zoo and the new Children's Zoo. 


A child pets a Gulf Coast Native sheep.

Zoo Atlanta's Outback Station petting zoo is home to Saanen goats, Oberhasli goats, Nubian goats, Southdown babydoll sheep, Gulf Coast sheep, Nigerian dwarf goats, and two kunekune pigs.

  

Savanna Hall

Built in 1921, the historic Savanna Hall was for decades the former home of the Atlanta Cyclorama painting "The Battle of Atlanta." The painting now resides at the Atlanta History Center.



Zoo Atlanta was granted stewardship of the structure by Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed in 2014. Upon restoring the building, Zoo Atlanta engaged in many efforts to retain nods to the structure's history, including but not limited to preserving its original granite facade, original terra cotta walls, and original rail system used to hang the massive painting. These are visible in what is now the Michael and Thalia Carlos Ballroom.



Savanna Hall opened as a special events destination in 2019, weddings and receptions, life celebrations.

 
You can overlook the elephants from Savannah Hall.  

Aviaries



Aviaries throughout Zoo Atlanta are home to more than 50 species. These include but are not limited to Bali mynas, white-headed buffalo weavers, superb starlings, golden pheasants, king vultures, hooded vultures, Indian peafowls, blue-throated macaws, milky eagle owls, southern ground hornbills, tawny frogmouths, blue-throated laughingthrushes, blue cranes, wattled cranes, and white storks.



Zoo Atlanta's flock of Chilean flamingos, visible just inside the zoo entrance in Flamingo Plaza, has consistently bred and nested since 2001.


TRD's daughters and their childhood partner in crime, my first picture at the zoo.

Simon and Garfunkle give us a third TRD Scrolling Nugget for his birthday, enjoy.



TRD's 65th Birthday visit to Zoo

The rest of these images come from my birthday visit to the Zoo November 29th, 2025.


The Swans are the first thing you see.

 
Heading to the Savannah.

  
Where are the real animals.

 
Daughter got her ponytail munched by a giraffe in Florida as a child being held in my arms. Tried to recreate that formative experience.

 
Kinda Artsey, Holiday lights display at night. 

 
My supermodel Gals. 



Finally we get to the elephants.

  
Kept missing face shot.

 
We lingered with the elephants. 

  
This was the week before we beat Alabama in the SEC Championship game. 



Was suppose to see Zebras and Rhinos only found them on Internet.

 
Professional photographers always get the faces.

 
TRD daughter may have taken a lot of these. 

 
Real giraffe too far away to scare her. 

   
Smaller Savannah critters. 

 

We then traveled to the African Rain Forest. 

 
Guests viewing the gorilla habitat from The Ford Willie B. Conservation Center. 

   
Reflected on the recent passing of Jane Goodall. 

 
Glad there was some glass between us and Lions. 

Now here we are in Asian Rain Forest or Complex Carnivorous area they all blend together. 

 
Tigers and tiger bait. 

 
Tha Bears. Lions and Tigers and Bears, what every Zoo needs. Maybe not Polar Bears way down South. 

 
We went through the Aviary and saw a Lemur heating himself on a heat lamp. It was a cold day November 29th. Missed faces again these images. 

 
We turn to the Internet to find better Zoo Atlanta Lemur images.
 
 
The Internet shows a pair of Zoo Atlanta Bush Dogs in the Asian Rain Forest. Keep an eye out for the Tigers, little buddies.

Then, since it was a cold day, we spent a long time in the Scaly Slimy Spectacular building. 

  
There are Otters and a Needle Nose Alligator in some tanks on the lead up. 

 
Inside are Snakes.

 
Snakes.

 
And more Snakes.

 
Abundance of Snakes.

   
And Turtles.

 
And Lizard's with the Lizard King himself. 

  
And Frogs blending with the foliage or scuba diving. 

 
Frogs hanging out. 

 
Busy Frogs.
 
Conservation and Research

Zoo Atlanta's mission statement is "We save wildlife and their habitats through conservation, research, education, and engaging experiences. Our efforts connect people to animals and inspire conservation action."

 
The girls were bubbling over with excitement. 

Species impacted by conservation support from Zoo Atlanta have included but are not limited to giant pandas, African elephants, golden lion tamarins, western lowland gorillas, Panamanian golden frogs, red pandas, clouded leopards, giant otters, Bornean orangutans, African vulture species such as hooded vultures and lappet-faced vultures, and native reptile species such as eastern indigo snakes and diamondback terrapins.

 
Found a nest of Gooney Birds.

In 2018, Zoo Atlanta was named a Top 10 Research Zoo for its contributions to peer-reviewed scientific research.


Real shame no more Panda's. 

A proud accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the gold standard for animal care and welfare, Zoo Atlanta has a mission to save wildlife and their habitats through conservation, research, education, and engaging experiences. The Zoo is home to more than 1,000 animals representing more than 200 species from around the world, many of them endangered or critically endangered. Zoo Atlanta is located in historic Grant Park, just minutes from downtown Atlanta, with easy access to MARTA. The Zoo is open 363 days a year with the exceptions of Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.


Penguin Head TRD with his very own GNW Gals on his birthday at Zoo Atlanta.