Audubon Zoo

The land that became Audubon Zoo was originally part of a large sugar plantation owned by Etienne de Bore, the first mayor of New Orleans. Sold to the city in 1871 for Upper City Park and a proposed new state capitol, it later hosted the 1884 World's Industrial & Cotton Centennial Exposition, whose Horticultural Hall included an early zoo of plants, monkeys, deer, songbirds, and macaws. In 1886 the park was renamed Audubon Park in honor of the naturalist and artist associated with Louisiana, and Frederick Law Olmsted was asked to create a master plan; after legislative funding was secured, John Charles Olmsted produced a plan in 1897 that the Park Commission accepted unanimously. By 1900 about one-third of the original plan had been completed, mainly at the front of the park, and by 1917 features including the Gumbel Fountain, the Hyams Pool, the Newman Bandstand, and a flight cage had been added. During the Great Depression, scarce private donations were offset by Works Progress Administration funds and a $50,000 gift from the Valentine Merz family, allowing the zoo to move to its present site. By the 1950's inadequate maintenance money had left the zoo in serious decline, but a 1972 referendum approved by voters generated nearly $2 million to begin restoration. Beginning in the 1970's, new exhibits such as Asian Domain, African Savanna, Louisiana Swamp, and Jaguar Jungle helped transform the zoo into an 'Urban Eden,' establishing Audubon among the nation's top-rated zoological parks and encouraging further cultural and economic development. Audubon's later success led to the creation of Audubon Nature Institute, which operates a group of museums and parks devoted to nature.

New Orleans, Louisiana · United States