Riverbanks Zoo and Garden: Forty Wild Years

Chapter 3. Picking Up Momentum

| 63 | Chapter 3 Picking Up Momentum Riverbanks Zoo received a major public relations boost when the December 1976 issue of Family Circle hit newsstands. The magazine included a two-page article titled “A Zoo’s Who,” by Jean Anderson, and this changed forever how Columbians felt about their new zoo. The piece was really nothing more than a subjective compilation of the thirteen “best” zoos in the United States. Almost all America’s major zoos made the list, including the Bronx and San Diego zoos and the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. Appearing at number four was the smallest zoo in the smallest city to make the list—the new zoo in Columbia, South Carolina. The description of the Columbia Zoological Park stated, in its entirety: “America’s newest zoo (opened in 1974) sprawls along the banks of the boulder-strewn Saluda River. Although the grounds cover 150 acres, only 50 of them are given over to exhibits (the zoo is developing along a 20-year master plan). Already, however, its Eco-System Birdhouse (80 exhibits with 600 birds representing 150 species) is considered one of the country ’s finest; it is subdivided into geographic zones—desert, canyon, swamp, seashore and rain forest (twice-daily downpours here with wind, thunder and lightning). Don’t miss the polar bear exhibit with its underwater viewing room or the Kalahari Desert lions (the only group of them in America).” It didn’t matter that the article’s introduction stated it was based on “personal visits, the preferences and proddings of friends and the recommendations of more than a few zoo people” or that the list was organized geographically and not in the | 64 | Riverbanks Zoo and Garden order of excellence. The Family Circle article resonated with the community—Columbia was now home to the fourth best zoo in the United States. Eight years later, on February 19, 1984, Parade, the Sunday newspaper magazine insert, published an article, “Can Zoos Be Humane?” Author Michael Satchell visited fifteen zoos around the United States in an effort to highlight what he considered to be poor conditions found in many American zoos. The piece contained a sidebar titled “The 10 Best and 10 Worst Zoos.” The ten best were rated the finest in the nation by an informal poll of zoo professionals. The zoos were listed alphabetically, and there sat Riverbanks once again in the number four spot. Incredibly, lightning struck not twice, but three times. Riverbanks would be ranked number four again, twenty-eight years later. In the spring of 2012, TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel-related website, ranked Riverbanks number four in its popularity index of the top ten zoos in the United States for its ability to provide guests with up-close animal exhibits and interactive attractions. According to one TripAdvisor traveler, “Riverbanks Zoo is the perfect family outing.” Two of Riverbanks’ beloved giraffes. A total of six giraffes have been born at Riverbanks since 2009. Photograph by Ron Brasington. | 65 | Picking Up Momentum Topping TripAdvisor’s list of top ten zoos was the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska, followed by the St. Louis Zoo in Saint Louis, Missouri, and the Cape May County Park and Zoo in Cape May Court House, New Jersey. Behind Riverbanks was the Memphis Zoo in Memphis, Tennessee, and the San Diego Zoo in San Diego, California . Audubon Zoo in New Orleans, Louisiana, rounded out the top ten. These unsolicited accolades helped create a Columbia urban legend—that there exists an official ranking system, similar to a college football poll, listing the ten best zoos in the United States. In fact such an official poll does not exist, yet Riverbanks has consistently placed fourth in informal ratings. The Enlightening Eighties Zoos were undergoing tremendous change in the late 1970s and early 1980s. As the result of a better-educated workforce and an increasingly informed public, zoos began a transformation that in many ways still continues today. Foremost among these was the increasing emphasis on zoos as unique educational resources. It was during this time that Riverbanks hired its first curator of education, a move that led directly to the first expansion of the zoo site, the construction of the Education Center. Prior to the hiring of the curator and the opening “My family & I are members of the zoo. . . . we visited the National Zoo in Washington, DC last week & they don’t hold a candle...