The Parks at Chehaw

The Parks at Chehaw

Location	105 Chehaw Park Road Albany, Georgia, U.S.A.
Land area	800 acres (320 ha) (Zoo portion is 100 acres (40 ha) only)[1]
Coordinates	31°37′03″N 84°08′17″W / 31.6176238°N 84.1381014°W / 31.6176238; -84.1381014[2]
Number of animals	212[3]
Number of species	55[3]
Memberships	AZA[4]
Owner	Chehaw Park Authority (City of Albany)[5]
Website	parksatchehaw.org

The Parks at Chehaw is a park and zoo located in Albany, Georgia. The parks were originally opened as Chehaw State Park in 1937, and currently covers 800 acres (320 ha). The Wild Animal Park was designed by naturalist Jim Fowler of TV's Wild Kingdom. It was opened in 1997, and features boardwalks in the cypress swamps that take visitors through natural habitat exhibits.^[6][7]

The Parks at Chehaw is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) since 1997. It is one of the only two accredited zoos in the state of Georgia.^[8]

History

Originally developed as Chehaw State Park in 1937, the property consisted of 586 acres (237 ha) donated to the state of Georgia by private landowners in Albany, Georgia. It is enclosed on two sides by a large, clear water bayou formed where the Kinchafoonee Creek and Muckalee Creeks meet.^[9] The property has expanded to nearly 800 acres (320 ha) and consists of moss-covered subtropical cypress swamps, climax hardwood forests, and burn-controlled pine/wiregrass habitat.

The park is named for the Chiha, or Chehaw, a tribe of Creek Indians who lived around the property and befriended white settlers.^[10] Artifacts such as arrowheads, spearheads, tomahawks, hoes, drill, scrapers, clay pipes and stone celts were commonly found during original park development. Variations in artifact design show land use by distinctly different tribes over several hundreds of years.^[11]

In 1974, the city of Albany leased 100 acres (40 ha) of unused land in Chehaw Park from the state of Georgia to develop a wild animal park where exotic and indigenous animals would be displayed in their natural habitats. With the inception of the wild animal habitat, the State donated the entire Chehaw Park acreage to the city to further develop. Albany and the Chehaw Wildlife Society commissioned Jim Fowler to design and supervise the construction of the wildlife area. The original animals were moved from the Tift Park Zoo in Albany to their new home at Chehaw between 1975 and 1977,^[12] and the Chehaw Wild Animal Park was officially dedicated and opened to the public in October 1977.^[13]

In 1979, the state of Georgia created the Chehaw Park Authority, an agent charged with the governing, preserving and developing the property as a natural and public resource for Southwest Georgia.^[14] Park officials brought back the Park’s original designer, Jim Fowler, in 2004 to begin lending his expertise the development of the Wild Animal Park. At the same time, new exhibits were created for African black rhinoceros (opened in April 2005) and African lesser flamingos (opened in 2006). The Park also retained the services of Atlanta design firm MACTEC Engineering to develop the first Site Management Plan for the entire Park.^[15]

Between 1997 and 2002, the Parks at Chehaw began to examine other park venues including the construction of the two-million dollar Creekside Education Center, the Children’s Play Park and a nationally sanctioned BMX bike track. Additional infrastructure construction included: animal quarantine, veterinary hospital, Savannah Café, bathrooms, reptile house and ticket booth.^[13]

Exhibits

The Parks at Chehaw is home to many endangered or vanishing species, including the Red Wolf, Black Rhinoceros, Cheetah, Black-and-white colobus Monkeys, four species of Lemurs, Bongos, Duiker, Grant's Zebras, Black Bears, American Bison (Buffalo), Bobcat, and unique birds (Ibis, Flamingos, Crowned Cranes, Ostriches, Bald Eagles, and Turaco). These exhibits are accessed through a boardwalk in the swamp area. The zoo also provides a home to local ^[16] species such as fox, squirrels, beavers, bobcats, gopher tortoises, and white-tailed deer.^[6][17]

The park also contains the following special attractions.

Ben's Barnyard includes an interactive portion where visitors can see how they would fare next to wild animals. Zoo visitors can climb into a Bald Eagle’s “nest”, take a giant leap from a standstill into a sandpit, jump as far up as they can, and measure their “wing” span.

In Alligator's Outpost, a boardwalk leads visitors to a swamp where two dozen American Alligators live. Unlike most zoo exhibits, this one is a natural habitat where the challenge is to see how many eyes visitors can spy emerging from the waters. Zoo visitors can also buy food for a quarter.

Wiregrass Express, is the zoo's train, which runs through the pine/wiregrass restoration area. Visitors can take a 20 minute ride on this train during the months of March through December.^[18]

The newest exhibit at the Parks at Chehaw is the meerkat exhibit. Home of four male meerkats, the exhibit allows guests to see inside the burrows of a meerkat. The exhibit also features a meerkat playground and "The Meerkat Maze". Both allow visitors to experience what it is like in the meerkat's natural habitat, the savannahs.^[16]

Other facilities

The parks also include nature trails, BMX bike racing, campgrounds, a RV park, and a playground.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "The Parks at Chehaw & Wild Animal Park - Georgia Attractions - Overview - Explore Georgia". Georgia Department of Economic Development. 2011. http://www.exploregeorgia.org/Georgia/Attractions/The-Parks-at-Chehaw-And-Wild-Animal-Park/400111. Retrieved 2011-04-24. 
2. ^ GPS Visualizer: Quick Geocoder
3. ^ ^{a b} "Welcome to The Parks at Chehaw - Chehaw, Nature's Playground - Albany, Georgia". The Parks at Chehaw. 2011-02-24. http://www.parksatchehaw.org/index.html. Retrieved 2011-04-24. 
4. ^ "List of Accredited Zoos and Aquariums". aza.org. AZA. http://www.aza.org/current-accreditation-list/. Retrieved 30 April 2011. 
5. ^ "Chehaw Park Authority & Foundation - Chehaw, Nature's Playground - Albany, Georgia". The Parks at Chehaw. 2011-02-24. http://www.parksatchehaw.org/chehaw-park-authority-foundation.html. Retrieved 2011-04-24. 
6. ^ ^{a b} "Wild Animal Park". parksatchehaw.org. Parks at Chehaw. http://www.parksatchehaw.org/wild_animal_park.htm. Retrieved 20 February 2010. ^{[dead link]}
7. ^ "Maps". parksatchehaw.org. Parks at Chehaw. http://www.parksatchehaw.org/map.htm. Retrieved 20 February 2010. 
8. ^ "The Parks at Chehaw". The New Georgia Encyclopedia. University of Georgia Press. http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Multimedia.jsp?id=m-4044&adv=y&hl=y. Retrieved 25 February 2010. 
9. ^ http://sites.google.com/site/chinhdangvu/google-earth/usa-on-google-earth/albany-georgia-on-google-earth
10. ^ Krakow, Kenneth K. (2002). "C". Georgia Place-Names (3 ed.). Winship Press. pp. 41. http://www.kenkrakow.com/gpn/c.pdf. Retrieved 25 February 2010. 
11. ^ http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/georgiabooks/pdfs/gb0493.pdf
12. ^ http://www.tripwiser.com/trip_destination-Georgia_USA_Albany?itiNodeId=8ad198fc0cbeb4e4010cc483650f4743&eType=site
13. ^ ^{a b} "Chehaw's History & Vision - Chehaw, Nature's Playground - Albany, Georgia". parksatchehaw.org. The Parks at Chehaw. 2011-02-24. http://www.parksatchehaw.org/chehaw-history-vision.html. Retrieved 2011-04-24. 
14. ^ http://gastateparks.org/content/georgia/parks/75th_Anniv/parks_history.pdf
15. ^ http://production.albany.ga.us/engineering/documents/SPLOST%20V%20Comprehensive%20Report%20June%202009.pdf
16. ^ ^{a b} What's New At Chehaw Parks http://www.parksatchehaw.org/animal-park-whats-new.html
17. ^ "Wild Animal Park Animal Profiles - Chehaw, Nature's Playground - Albany, Georgia". The Parks at Chehaw. 2011-02-24. http://www.parksatchehaw.org/animal-park-profiles.html. Retrieved 2011-04-24. 
18. ^ "Tickets". parksatchehaw. Parks at Chehaw. http://www.parksatchehaw.org/tickets.htm. Retrieved 20 February 2010. ^{[dead link]}

External links

Official website