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.\r
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?
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