Amy McRary

USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee

Knoxville businessman and gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd and his wife, Jenny, have given Zoo Knoxville $5 million, the largest private contribution to the park.

The Boyds' gift was announced Wednesday night during a ceremony at the zoo east of downtown Knoxville.

The money goes to the zoo's ongoing "Dream Wilder" capital campaign that will help fund construction in a master plan that will renovate or rebuild large sections of the zoo.

“Jenny and our family have always loved the zoo, so it’s personal," Boyd said in an announcement about the gift. "The economic impact on the region is over $34 million annually, but what children learn when visiting the zoo about care and love for animals is priceless.”

As part of the gift, the zoo has named its newest animal exhibit area, Asian Trek, after the Boyds. The 4-acre habitat is now called the Boyd Family Asian Trek. Asian Trek includes Tiger Forest, a 1.5 acre, $10 million exhibit opening April 7 for endangered Malayan tigers. Its other exhibits for gibbons and languor monkeys, as well as a 40-foot treehouse overlook, are now under construction and scheduled to open in 2018.

The Boyd Family Asian Trek and a planned reptile/amphibian education building and river otter habitat make up a $30 million first phase of the zoo's master plan. The park has raised $21.4 million of the projects' $30 million budget.

"The legacy of the Boyd family’s commitment to our zoo started many years ago. It was Randy’s vision while serving as the chair of our facilities committee that challenged us to think beyond anything we had ever done,” Zoo President and CEO Lisa New said. “Their gift will transform the experience we give our guests, the care we provide our animals and the impact we can have in saving animals from extinction.”



“This takes our zoo to the next level,” said Eddie Mannis, chair of the Zoo Knoxville Board of Directors. “It is our goal to be the ‘must see attraction’ in Knoxville and the ‘most talked about’ destination in the region. The Boyd’s’ generosity is the catalyst for these aspirations. We intend to welcome 800,000 visitors annually by 2025, and a majority of those will be tourists contributing to our local economy. The Boyd commitment benefits not just Zoo Knoxville but our entire community.”

Randy Boyd is a Knoxville businessman, former Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development commissioner and current Republican gubernatorial candidate. The Boyds are longtime zoo supporters; a past contribution helped construct the Boyd Family Red Panda Village habitat.