The Brights Zoo is a small, family-owned/operated zoo in Eastern Tennessee. About 1.5 hours east of Knoxville, this zoo is much different than the other, larger Tennessee zoos. The highlight here is their collection of South American animals. The owner tells us that they import their animals from South America, so they have clean blood lines. This was evident in their large collection. Being smaller, this zoo only requires about a 2-hour visit, but it’s a very enjoyable walk on mostly shaded, paved pathways.
Highlights:
- South America building – As mentioned above, they import their animals from South America. They have a large collection of sloths, and lesser known animals like the tayra.
- Macaws – Upon entry to the zoo, they have a perch area for three macaws. With direct visibility (no barriers), this is a very nice (and colorful) start to your visit.
- Monkeys – Due to having so many South American animals, this zoo has a lot of monkeys. We enjoyed the spider monkeys, lemurs, and the tamarins the most.
Lows:
- Dirty – Although this was a very nice walk, most of the concrete walkways were covered in bird poop. While a little poop is expected at a zoo, these paths were absolutely covered in it. A good power washing would go a long way here.
- Redundant exhibits – So, this comment is mainly from a visitation standpoint. In several cases, the same animal was on exhibit in multiple different parts of the zoo. I’m sure there’s explanations for it (separating male/female, or introducing different groups) but it would be nice if they could group them together rather than duplicate them across the zoo.
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