Off the beaten path: A day at the zoo in Columbia, S.C.

Riverbanks Zoo & Garden in Columbia, S.C., is a bit of a hidden gem that guarantees family fun…and it’s only a state away from home turf in North Carolina.

 

While preparing for a family “experiential outing” to the Riverbanks Zoo during the 2025 Christmas holiday season, we learned that the “Koala Knockabout” exhibit is world renown.

 

(Only eight other zoos in the entire United States have active koala habitats, and most are in major urban markets within California, Ohio and Florida.)

It’s an interesting story for South Carolina, one that grew out of a “sister state” relationship with Queensland, Australia.

 

In 2001, South Carolina’s Gov. Jim Hodges hosted a reception in Columbia at the zoo’s Botanical Garden campus, honoring Peter Beatie, the premier of Queensland, who was visiting the Palmetto State.

 

Hodges (above) and Beatie (below)

According to Palmer “Satch” Krantz (shown below), who was the zoo’s executive director at the time, “during the evening’s festivities, someone boldly declared: ‘Riverbanks Zoo should have koalas!’ While I was flattered by the offer, I knew…this would not be easy.”

 

“The Commonwealth of Australia is very protective of its wildlife, even declaring they are ‘national treasures,’” Krantz said. “This is appropriate given the fact that some of the world’s most unique animals live only in Australia, from koalas and kangaroos to the bizarre, duck-billed platypus.”

“In order to protect these species from exploitation, the Australian government adopted an Ambassador Agreement in 1997 to control international trade,” Krantz said. “The terms of the agreement are so strict that most other zoos had long since given up on acquiring Australian animals, especially koalas.”

Two male Australian koalas – Mirai and Kei – arrived at Riverbanks in January 2002 from the Hirakawa Zoo in Kagoshima, Japan.

A little more than a year later, two female koalas – Lottie and Killarney – were transferred to Riverbanks from the David Fleay Wildlife Park at Burleigh Heads on Queensland’s Gold Coast.

Lottie (shown below) became a significant matriarch for the Riverbanks koala breeding program. She lived to the ripe old age of 19, almost double the median life expectancy of 10 years, Krantz said. 

Before she died in 2021, Lottie had given birth to 11 joeys, and her family tree included 15 grand joeys, 7 great-grand joeys and 3 great-great-grand joeys.

A baby koala is called a joey, just like baby kangaroos and other marsupials. A newborn joey is tiny, blind and furless, climbing into its mother's pouch to develop for about six months, feeding on milk before transitioning to eucalyptus leaves. 

A juvenile koala will ride on its mother's back after leaving the pouch, learning to find food and navigate.

One of Lottie’s daughters, Charlotte (shown below) gave birth to Kirra, who is currently living at Riverbanks Zoo, and the staff is eagerly anticipating that Kirra will hook up with Milo, a male koala, who arrived in late 2024 from Zoo Miami in Florida.

Right now, it’s just the two of them, and they have a lovely home within the Koala Knockabout exhibit at Riverbanks. The facility contains two spacious indoor exhibits and an outdoor area. The habitat was built to accommodate a crowd – up to six adults and their offspring.

Kirra (above) and Milo (below)

 

A walk-in cooler holds the eucalyptus leaves that are shipped into Columbia each week from as far away as Arizona and Florida to feed the koalas.

“Koalas aren’t the most exciting animals,” Krantz said. “They can spend more than 20 hours a day sleeping in the same tree. The remaining hours are spent eating eucalyptus and, on occasion, breeding.”

But people love the koalas, because they’re furry, cute and appear to be quite cuddly…and “people can’t believe the zoo in Columbia has koalas,” Krantz said.

“They are ambassadors for their wild brethren,” he noted. Koalas are in decline in nature, due largely to habitat destruction, bushfires, drought, disease and human encroachment. It’s a serious situation.

A hundred years ago, Australia was home to about 8 million koalas. Today, that number has dwindled dramatically, causing Australia to declare the koala as “an endangered species” in 2022…as well as a species “at high risk of extinction in the wild.”

The Australian Koala Foundation estimates that there are fewer than 63,665 koalas left in the wild. Go to the organization’s website at savethekoala.com.

Visitors to the Koala Knockabout exhibit in Columbia can also view other animals, fish and birds native to Australia. View wallabies and Australian reptiles like bearded dragons and water dragons.

A large free-flight aviary named the “Lorikeet Loft” houses more than 50 Australian lorikeets, which are small, colorful parrots that feed on nectar. Visitors can purchase small cups of nectar and enter the aviary to feed the birds.

 

“They are friendly toward small children and are likely to land on your hand, arm, head or shoulders to enjoy their special treats.”

 

Riverbanks Zoo takes its name from the Saluda River, which joins the Broad River just below the fall line in Columbia to form the Congaree River.

The zoo opened to the public in 1974, and it presently employs about 300 people working on a 170-acre site to care for some 3,000 individual animals, representing about 400 species. 

About 1.3 million visitors attend each year. This zoo frequently is mentioned as being one of the top “small-to-medium sized zoos” in the country.

 

The zoo experience is enhanced by the attention to detail, cleanliness and a customer service-focused staff. 

Management has made a major investment in meticulous landscaping and installing works of art. Zoo horticulturalists take great pride in providing a pleasant environment for visitors. The layout is interesting, and the zoo is easy to navigate.

 

The facility is fully accredited by the American Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

 

The opening of the “garden campus” in 1996, added a completely new dimension to the zoo complex on the opposite bank of the Saluda River, within 70 acres of wilderness. The various themed gardens showcase more than 5,700 species of native and exotic plants.

A separate entrance and parking area has been established, and visitors can cross back and forth over on a pedestrian bridge that spans the river.

Or, visitors can choose to take advantage of the complimentary Saluda Skyway. Each cable car or gondola is capable of transporting eight passengers and can accommodate wheelchairs, walkers and strollers. The 2.5-minute ride provides panoramic river views.

Members of the North Carolina Zoo or the North Carolina Aquariums can benefit from reciprocity arrangements to receive a 50% discount off the admission fee to Riverbanks Zoo & Garden.