Zoo Knoxville
Published on HivePostify by @byzantinecat · Fri Jul 10 2026
Hey, y'all!
Today we'll be featuring Zoo Knoxville, the unofficial red panda capital of the world! With more than 110 red panda births, more red pandas have been born at Zoo Knoxville than at any other zoo. Zoo Knoxville is recognized internationally as experts in the care of red pandas and plays a critical role in the conservation of these noble and beautiful creatures!
While this is the first of my Tennessee posts:
I1: Zoo Knoxville (this post)
I do have a small backlog which includes:
- McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture
- Knoxville Museum of Art
All of the pictures in this post were taken by me except for the map of the zoo. If you want to use any of my photos, please contact me to first obtain permission.
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ZOO KNOXVILLE
3500 Knoxville Zoo Drive Knoxville, TN 37914
Website: https://www.zooknoxville.org/
Hours:
Open Daily, 9 AM - 5 PM.
Last tickets sold at 4 PM.
Cost (as of 2026):
Adults: $26.95 Children (Ages 3 - 12): $21.95 Seniors (65+): $21.95 College Students: $21.95 Children (2 & Under): FREE! Members: FREE! Active Military & Veterans: FREE!
A $2 per ticket in-park service fee is added to all in-person ticket sales.
There is a discounted rate for groups of 15 or more which amounts to a savings of $5 per person.
Zoo Knoxville participates in the AZA Reciprocity program at the 50% rate. Members of all other participating zoos (whether those zoos participate at 50% or 100%) get 50% off the admission rate at Zoo Knoxville. And Zoo Knoxville members get 50% off the admission of all participating zoos (regardless of whether that zoo participates at 50% or 100%).
AZA Reciprocal tickets need to be bought in person (i.e. there is no online option) but do not incur the $2 in-park service fee.
Since I was a member of Buttonwood Park Zoo, I got 50% off admission so I only had to pay $13.48 instead of the full $26.95.
Parking is $5 (free for members).
Estimated Time: 2 - 4 hours.
I spent 4.5 hours but I attended 4 of the free animal encounter chats and visited several areas (red pandas, tigers) multiple times.
As a medium-sized zoo, you can go through the entire zoo in under 2 hours. But if you want to attend any of the free animal encounters (which can be as often as every 30 minutes) you need to budget time not only for the actual session but to also criss-cross across the zoo.
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SUMMARY
The highlights of Zoo Knoxville are the red pandas, the baby lion and gorilla, the otters, and the bears. Since my May 2026 visit they also now have 2 red panda cubs.
Zoo Knoxville is a medium-sized zoo known for its red pandas, of which it had 5 during the time of my visit. Despite that, you may be wondering why I only rated it as 3 stars.
While the red pandas are certainly cute, the Red Panda Village exhibit itself could use some improvements. One exhibit was empty (was not able to see Khyana), the second exhibit had reflective glass that made it hard to take pictures without glare, and the third exhibit had a chain link fence which was even harder to take pictures without focusing on the fence. There is also a video camera of the Panda Den but it's a grainy black and white video monitor.
Besides that, the zoo isn't that big and there could be a larger variety of animals.
I was able to see the majority of the animals at the zoo. The map shows a second otter enclosure in the west loop but that was empty - all the otters seemed to be at Otter Creek at the entrance. I didn't see any langurs or the duiker, the tigers and sloth were always sleeping, the Southern ground hornbill was hiding in a cave and could barely be seen, and the red wolf habitat wasn't open yet. Some of the older maps also show an Appalachia section with a Timber Loop path but that was closed off during my visit. Looking online it seems to be part of an evening event.
To briefly summarize the layout of the zoo:
- I would character the central area near the entrance as including Red Panda Village, Otter Creek, and Black Bear Falls, along with the Zoo Shop.
- The west loop has Asian Trek (including Tiger Temple), the Kid's Cove Play Zone, and then a handful of monkeys, birds, and tortoises.
- The larger east loop includes the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC) Campus, the Wee Play Adventure Area with more reptiles, the Heart of Africa (Chimp Ridge + Gorilla Valley), Southern Savannah, and Valley of the Kings (lions/baboons). The upcoming Red Wolf habitat and evening Timber Loop are also here.
Zoo Knoxville does offer a variety of free animal encounters spaced throughout the day. You can view the full list here:
https://www.zooknoxville.org/plan-your-visit/animal-encounters-free/
Previously, the website showed days and times but it doesn't currently. On my visit, I participated in:
- 1:30 PM Great Apes (chosen over Ostriches) - 2 PM Lions or Baboons (it's one session and it varies which animal it features) - 2:30 PM Rhino - 3 PM Red Pandas
The Rhino event was just a talk with a zoo keeper. The Great Apes event was mainly a talk with a gorilla keeper about the baby. They provided some food for the gorillas at the beginning of the session. The baboon session was the most interactive. A pair of keepers were regularly training two baboons to present themselves for medical inspection in exchange for apple juice. While I would have preferred a lion session instead, there was a separate volunteer near the baby lion willing to answer any questions. The red panda session was great! A keeper was constantly feeding the 3 red pandas lined up for treats and telling the crowd about the critters. I enjoyed that event and the only downside is that the fence made it hard to take good pictures.
Zoo Knoxville is still a solid zoo that is worth a visit, especially for the red pandas. Some needed renovations at Red Panda Village to improve visibility and a bigger emphasis on red pandas as a unique feature of the zoo would go a long way towards earning a 4 star rating from me.
Comparing Zoo Knoxville to other zoos:
5 stars:
- San Diego Zoo (San Diego, CA) - Brookfield Zoo (Brookfield, IL) - Taipei Zoo (Taipei City, Taiwan)
4 stars:
- San Diego Safari Park (San Diego, CA) - Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden (Cincinnati, OH) - Oklahoma City Zoo (Oklahoma City, OK) - Milwaukee County Zoo (Milwaukee, WI) - Houston Zoo (Houston, TX) - Oakland Zoo (Oakland, CA)
3 stars:
- Lincoln Park Zoo (Chicago, IL, Free) - Zoo Atlanta (Atlanta, GA) - Buttonwood Park Zoo (New Bedford, MA) - Butterflies of Cape Cod (Bourne, MA) - International Crane Foundation (Baraboo, WI) - Henry Vilas Zoo (Madison, WI, Free) - Indianapolis Zoo (Indianapolis, IN) - Sacramento Zoo (Sacramento, CA) - Santa Barbara Zoo (Santa Barbara, CA) - Fort Worth Zoo (Fort Worth, TX) - Fort Wayne Zoo (Fort Wayne, IN) - Zoo Knoxville (Knoxville, TN) - ZooTampa (Tampa, FL) - Busch Gardens (Tampa, FL) - Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens (Los Angeles, CA) - Detroit Zoo (Detroit, MI) - Virginia Zoological Park (Norfolk, VA) - Virginia Living Museum (Newport News, VA) - Minnesota Zoo (Apple Valley, MN)
Tags: #travel#travelblog#wanderlust#knoxville#tennessee#zoo#animals#redpanda#cute#giftshop