After two years of construction and
just shy of 20 years in planning,
Kids Cove, the new children’s
area at the Knoxville Zoo, has opened.
While the entire zoo is technically for
kids, the cove was designed specifically
for children ages three to 10.
“Kids Cove is based on a turn-of-thecentury
Appalachian settlement,” says
Kids Cove curator Evan James. Even
though the cove is still new, James says
many local children have visited numerous
times already. Children can observe
or interact with animals and use their
imaginations to pretend to be farmers or
zookeepers.
Covering three acres and beginning at
the old zoo entrance, the first stop is thebarnyard area with a pig wallow and a life-size, fiberglass model
cow that children can “milk.” There’s a chicken coop with laying
hens to visit. Kids can pet the farm animals and help to brush
them. A huge playground surrounds Clayton’s Play Cabin, modeled
after a homestead in Cades Cove. A 500-square-foot sandbox
for digging and a spider web for climbing are features here.
Spring will bring the opening of the barnyard loft with exhibits
of barn owls, spiders and mice.
Native animals are featured in all areas of Kids Cove with
more than 30 species featured. The songbird aviary with more
than 20 bird species also includes giant nests children can climb
into, complete with play eggs. Several interactive exhibits allow
visitors to get close to birds that inhabit their own backyards. A
nocturnal area is scheduled to open in late
2006 and will house bats, skunks, raccoons
and other creatures of the night.
To cool off in warm months or just
have some fun, the water play area is a
meandering stream with giant frogs that
squirt water and lily pads to step on. One
of the most popular stops is a wild animal
carousel, the only permanent one in
Knoxville. Custom-built for the zoo, the
carousel features 30 zoo animals such as
red pandas, white tigers and giraffes
which kids ride on instead of horses.
Funds raised from carousel rides help
support operations at Kids Cove.
The only complaint Evan James says
he’s heard about Kid’s Cove is that children
don’t want to leave.
>>FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Call 865-637-5331 or visit their website at www.knoxville-zoo.org or
www.kidscove.org.
