A Tyler, Texas Treasure — Caldwell Zoo

by Marilyn Jones

A wonderland of animals and flowers, sights and sounds is laid out before guests as they leave the Caldwell Zoo parking lot and begin their decent down a series of stair steps.

The zoo is laid out, more or less, in a circle making it easy to see everything the 85-acre attraction has to offer. More than 2,000 animals reside in carefully created North American, South American and East African habitats.

Pathways twist and turn through thousands of flowers, past animals and birds and giant rock formations — all adding to the experience.

Contemporary tourists are the beneficiaries of what started when David King Caldwell opened a Child Development Laboratory at his home in 1937. His playschool and its animals — including parrots, monkeys and squirrels — was a hit with children, their parents and the community.

As the makeshift zoo grew, additional buildings were built and more animals were added to the collection. In 1953, Caldwell Zoo officially opened. Just as the zoo grew from a child development center to a zoo in only 16 years, the zoo has grown into a first-class facility welcoming guests from around the world since its official opening nearly six decades ago.

One of the most popular areas of the zoo is the Wild Bird Walkabout. The free-flight aviary allows guests to interact with and feed brightly colored parakeets and cockatiels as they fly from tree to tree in their naturalistic habitat. This seasonal exhibit features more than 600 birds.

The North America Herpetarium is right next door and features native Texas fish and numerous reptiles including snakes and lizards as well as amphibians and invertebrates.

The North America animal exhibit features white-tailed deer, bison, Texas longhorns and wild turkeys. Hanging out near the pond, you’ll find a variety of water fowl, sand hill cranes and turtles.

A family of coatis — that look like giant Guinea pigs — a red fox, bald eagles and other birds of prey, river otters, mountain lions and bobcats also reside here. There also is an alligator pond where you might see a ‘gator relaxing in the sunshine.

Two “guests” housed here are white tigers. These big cats are actually from Asia.

Gazing out over the African Savanna guests can observe zebras, giraffes, elephants, lions and other exotic wildlife.  Other popular residents in this area of the zoo are the mischievous meerkats and black-footed penguins.  The penguin building features a tank of cichlid fish.  Behind the tank of fish are tortoises and lizards.

And what African exhibit would be complete without monkeys and big cats including leopards?

South America is a kaleidoscope of sights, sounds, shape and color.

At home in this section of the zoo are high-spirited squirrel monkeys, roseate spoonbills, gray and black crested screamers, and pink Chilean flamingos.  Noisy macaws, silent Giant anteaters, meandering capybaras and king vultures all reside in this area of the zoo.

Caldwell Zoo is open all year.

The zoo is located at 2203 Martin Luther King Blvd. in Tyler.

For more information call 903 – 593 – 0121 or check the website at www.caldwellzoo.org.