Name has been announced as of 9/5/2023. Meet Kipekee which is swahili for Unique. The zoo received over 40 thousand votes and Kipekee won by a margin of 6,000 votes.
How her name was chosen:
From the day she was born the Bright family each started looking up names and their meanings. We generally stick with swahili names for our giraffe. The family looked at hundreds of names and decided to narrow it down to four. Kipekee, Firyali, Shakiri and Jamella. We then decided to put it out to the public to vote. Just on facebook the zoo received over 39,000 valid votes, which were counted and the name Kipekee won by over 6,000 votes.
Please remeber that weekends are most busy days. To speed up your check in time please leave all bags in your vehicle. You are able to go to your car as many times as you wish. If carrying a bag – clear bags are a major plus as our staff can easily check those.
Best Times to view her:  We are finally reaching our cooler part of the season. It must be 50 degrees and no rain for giraffe to go outside. Sometimes that is closer to 10:30 in order for giraffe to make it outside. Baby giraffe are staying out a little later than normal (generally until 4:00).  Our hours are Monday – Wednesday, and Friday – Saturday the zoo opens at 10:00 am. Sunday we open at 12:00. Last entry is at 3:30.  The zoo will be closed on Thursdays. Our last day of the season is December 1st.  Â
Born on July 31st – this is the rarest living giraffe in the USA.
What makes her so rare? Simply put it is because she was born without a pattern. We know the last time this took place was in 1972 in Tokyo Japan.
How was she accepted into the herd? She was immediately accepted by the entire giraffe tower. They treat her as they see her no different than any other giraffe born here at the zoo. We do know that a new patternless giraffe was born in Africa some time after Kipekee and look forward to hearing more about this.
What can we do to help giraffes in the wild? Conservation will always be the most important thing we do. To help save this species we encourage everyone to help with conservation in the wild.
There are a couple of great conservation efforts that we recommend.
Save Giraffes Now https://savegiraffesnow.org/
Giraffe Conservation Foundation https://giraffeconservation.org/
You can help these organizations financially by donating to their causes. You can also help share the word on your own social media to help others see how to help giraffes in the wild. If we all do our part, we can ensure that our future generations get to see this amazing animal.
Labor Day our hours officially change over to Fall hours. This means that we open an hour later and we will be closed on Thursdays.
Information for our area:
Next door to the zoo is Troyers Market – Troyers – Mountain View Country Market (troyersmountainview.com) This is a great place to grab a sandwich, snack or to shop some neat items.
Next door to the zoo is Mountain View Restaurant. 3241 Highway 11 E, Limestone, TN 37681. This is the closest sit down restaurant to the zoo if you want a place to grab lunch.
Next door to the zoo is Johnnys Market. 3838 Andrew Johnson Hwy, Limestone, TN 37681 This is the closest gas station and also has a variety of food.
Home – Johnson City Convention & Visitors Bureau (visitjohnsoncitytn.com)
Town of Jonesborough – Storytelling Capital of the World
Hotels – Closest hotel to the zoo is Country Inn and Suites, located in Jonesborough, TN – (423) 753-3100 – 376 E Jackson Blvd, Jonesborough, TN 37659
If you prefer to stay in Johnson City (this is going to be where lots of restaraunts are, you have a lot of choices.
Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Johnson City is located in walking distance to several restaraunts. (423) 900-8640 – 3078 Hamilton Pl, Johnson City, TN 37604
High end hotel in Johnson City is – Carnegie Hotel – (423) 979-6400 – 1216 W State of Franklin Rd, Johnson City, TN 37604
Dog day cares:
Park Your Paws – Boarding, Grooming, Day Camp – located in Johnson City, TN – 423-753-7297 – 3741 West Market Street Johnson City, TN 37604
Directions that avoid back roads:
From Virginia (abingdon area) from I-81 south take exit 57A to I26 East 23 south, Asheville Johnson City exit. Once on I26 take exit 17 – Jonesborough exit, head towards Jonesborough. When get to HWY 11-E take a right and the zoo will be 7.8 miles on your right.
From North Carolina – stay on I 26 until you get to exit 17 – Jonesborough exit, head towards Jonesborough. When get to HWY 11-E take a right and the zoo will be 7.8 miles on your right.
From Knoxville, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg – I 40 East to exit 421 (Interstate I 81 North) Take exit 23 off of I 81 and turn right on to 11 E. Stay on HWY 11 E towards Jonesborouh – Johnson City. The zoo is approximately 36 miles from exit 23. The Zoo will be on the left side of the HWY and you will make a U-turn to enter the zoo.
When using any GPS device – With directions from NC and Virginia – your GPS will try and bring you the back way. The back way is perfectly fine if you do not mind curvy roads. We do recommend WAZE for GPS as it will bring you directly to the zoo.