Western North Carolina Nature Center

The Western North Carolina Nature Center is a 42-acre (17 ha) zoological park in Western North Carolina operated by the City of Asheville. It was originally opened in 1925 and known as Recreation Park Zoo, Craig Park Zoo, and Asheville City Zoo and housed a wide variety of native and non-native wildlife. It was then renamed the Children's Zoo and Nature Center in the mid-seventies and was converted to a native wildlife zoo. In 1975, a non-profit charity later named the Friends of the WNC Nature Center was established to develop and fundraise for the improvements which ultimately opened in 1976. The Center has been accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums since 1999 and its collection features animals native to the southern Appalachian Mountains. In 2013 the center welcomed over 107,000 guests with over 13,000 coming from school children on field trips to the facility. In 2010, the Center developed an ambitious 2020 Vision master plan, and in 2013 opened the first phase of this plan with a red wolf exhibit that is part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' species survival plan and Arachnid Adventure playground. As both visitation at the WNC Nature Center and wildlife rehabilitation needs in the area grew, the need for a dedicated facility outside the center became clear. Appalachian Wildlife Refuge was established in the fall of 2014 to fulfill this role and, b

Zoo data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).