Can you remember a time when Riverbanks Zoo and Garden wasn’t a part of Columbia’s landscape? You would have to go back over five decades to recall an era where it didn’t exist—Back to the late 1960s when Riverbanks Zoo and Garden was known simply as the “Columbia Zoo” and prominent leaders in town were working hard to garner enough support to turn the dream of a small children’s zoo into a reality.
You’d harken back to a time when you’d have to rely on books and photographs to introduce you to the world of African wildlife and to a time when the siamang’s songs didn’t reverberate across the Saluda River and into a beautiful botanical garden. Fast forward to 2024 when Riverbanks Zoo and Garden is set to celebrate their 50th anniversary in style by remembering their roots as they look forward to another wild and exciting 50 years.
Tommy Stringfellow, named president and CEO of Riverbanks Zoo and Garden in August 2017, first came to Columbia in 2002 as the Director of Marketing before becoming the Chief Operating Officer in 2011. In the over 20 years that he has been involved here, he has seen, experienced, and been a part of what makes the local attraction so popular in our community and beyond. What makes it special, surprisingly, is not just the wide variety of animals that visitors can see up close and personal. It’s the people. It’s the team at Riverbanks Zoo, the guests who visit, and the citizens of both Lexington and Richland counties. They have, since 1974, made up the roots from which the Zoo has blossomed.
Riverbanks Zoo would not be the zoo that it is today without the knowledgeable, experienced, and enthusiastic team of wildlife experts that they have assembled to care for the animals and the property. In addition to the world-class care that they provide, they have also created an atmosphere within the park that welcomes and educates everyone who visits. “We use our southern charm to our advantage,” said Stringfellow. “From the time you park your car until the time you walk back out the gates at the end of your visit, you experience what we believe southern hospitality should be. We’re talking to you throughout your visit, asking you how your day was, answering any questions you have.”
Each detail of Riverbanks Zoo has been carefully curated to provide optimal experiences for everyone who visits. Being a midsize zoo means that it’s easy for visitors to experience most of what the Zoo has to offer in 3-4 hours. Visitors do not walk long distances between exhibits and the intimate nature of the Zoo allows for more contact points between staff and visitors. This is an area where the staff shines as they use their experience to educate.
“Our staff is so knowledgeable,” said Stringfellow. “Where other zoos struggle to find experienced people to add to their teams, we don’t. Our new Director of Animal Welfare has a background that includes many years at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and time at San Diego Zoo, one of the largest zoos in the country. His goal was to get to Riverbanks for several reasons, including the reputation that we carry and the culture that we have. We attract a lot of incredible talent from other major zoos. That’s been a huge part of our success—Having the staff that we have for the care of our animals.”
The guests that frequent Riverbanks Zoo are the second group of people that make up the Zoo’s success over the last 50 years. Visitors flock to Columbia—over 1 million annually—to enjoy one of the Top 10 Zoos in the country. Of course, they’re coming to see the animals. They come for the up-close encounters with rhinos, to see the seals and sea lions swim effortlessly through the water, to catch a glimpse of the tigers prowling through the bamboo of their exhibit, and to spend time wandering through the new Boyd Aquarium & Reptile Conservation Center.
Visitors also go for signature events in the holiday season and fundraising events like Zoofari in the fall. Riverbanks Zoo does a fair share of entertaining and hosting guests each day. They’ve made their park a fun and exciting place to spend time, which is shown by the volume of visitors that walk through their gates. Their mission extends past simply having a fun place to go. Their mission is to create meaningful connections and inspire actions that will have a lasting impact on conservation. These connections made with visitors are another reason that makes Riverbanks Zoo a treasured piece of the community.
“I like to say that each year, we have the opportunity to make an educational impression on over 1.2 million people,” said Stringfellow. “Visitors can learn from something that they read at one of the exhibits, from watching one of our educational shows, or by listening in to one of our team members.” Visitors can also learn from watching what Riverbanks Zoo does, as actions often speak the loudest and leave the longest impression.
Every time someone visits the Zoo, they donate to wildlife conservation efforts. A portion of every item sold—from tickets to stuffed animals in the gift shop, concessions, and even the souvenir photos—goes into a conservation fund that is managed by a committee. The committee then, in turn, makes decisions about where the funds should go. Riverbanks Zoo has made generous contributions worldwide and right in their backyard, supporting organizations such as the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources as they work towards conserving local ecosystems and wildlife along the Saluda River.
Stringfellow and his staff have also ensured that they are doing their part, too. They’ve gone green in many ways from solar power to reducing their energy consumption, utilizing recycled material to create permanent structures like the children’s playground, and even replacing their plastic straws with straws made from recycled oyster shells.
If you look past the gates of Riverbanks Zoo and into the surrounding communities, you’ll find the final group of people that have provided the support the Zoo needed to operate for the last 50 years: the citizens that call Lexington and Richland counties home. They set the groundwork in the early days for the support of a zoo coming to Columbia and they have continually provided their encouragement throughout the decades.
“The taxpayer support from the citizens in both counties has been the biggest contributing factor to our success,” said Stringfellow “Riverbanks is the only one out of the 252 zoos in the country recognized by the American Zoological Association that spans two different counties and has a natural river that splits the middle of the campus. This has provided us with two entities, which is better than one, that can give us support.” As Riverbanks Zoo looks to the future, they have set their sights across the Saluda River to the Botanical Garden side of their campus where the stage is set for their next expansion. Bridge to the Wild is something that Stringfellow is excited to see come to life.
“We met with the staff 2-3 years ago to develop our future master plan,” said Stringfellow. “We asked lots and lots of people what animals we would like to have if we could pick and choose? What could we afford? As much as we’d love to have pandas, I’m not sure that financially we could fit them into our medium-sized zoo. The ones that we chose to bring to our Bridge to the Wild expansion are native species that are on the verge of becoming endangered: black bears!” “We’re also bringing in red wolves,” said Stringfellow. “They were almost completely extinct but now they’re coming back. Red wolves are from this area, so it’s a great conservation story to tell. You can’t forget about the bald eagles we hope to include, either.”
The Bridge to the Wild is also expected to give the Zoo a larger footprint, encouraging visitors to stay longer at both the Zoo and in Columbia, giving the surrounding metropolitan area an economic boost through hotel stays, meals out at restaurants, and visits to other area attractions. As much as the community loves and supports the Zoo, the Zoo does its best to offer the same level of each back to the community.
Where would Columbia be without the Zoo’s lasting impact over the last 50 years? It’s hard to tell, but there’s one thing we know for sure: this town, community, and state are all better off having had Riverbanks Zoo and Garden as part of its landscape since 1974.
Riverbanks Zoo and Garden
500 Wildlife Parkway
Columbia, SC 29210
803-779-8717