Chehaw Park

Chehaw Park is a park and zoo located in Albany, Georgia. The park was originally opened as Chehaw State Park in 1937, and currently covers 800acre. The Wild Animal Park was designed by naturalist Jim Fowler of television's Wild Kingdom. Fowler is originally from Albany, Georgia. It was opened in 1997, and features boardwalks in the cypress swamps that take visitors through natural habitat exhibits.Chehaw is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) since 1997. It is one of only two accredited zoos in the state of Georgia.HistoryOriginally developed as Chehaw State Park in 1937, the property consisted of donated to the state of Georgia by private landowners in Albany, Georgia. It is enclosed on two sides by a large, clear water bayou formed where the Kinchafoonee Creek and Muckalee Creeks meet. The property has expanded to nearly and consists of moss-covered subtropical cypress swamps, climax hardwood forests, and burn-controlled pine/wiregrass habitat.The park is named for the Chiha, or Chehaw, a tribe of Creek Native Americans who inhabited around the property and befriended Caucasian settlers. Artifacts such as arrowheads, spearheads, tomahawks, hoes, drill, scrapers, clay pipes and stone celts were commonly found during original park development. Variations in artifact design show land use by distinctly different tribes over several hundreds of years.