Hattiesburg Zoo

About Hattiesburg Zoo

The Hattiesburg Zoo, sometimes called the Kamper Park Zoo, is a small zoo in Kamper Park in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Wikipedia describes it as a 12-acre zoo operated by the Hattiesburg Convention Commission and accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The zoo's website describes Kamper Park as a 40-acre park, bordered by Hardy Street to the north, Park Avenue to the west, 17th Avenue to the east and Camp Street to the south, with the zoo occupying about 12 of those acres.

The zoo's own information page says it welcomes more than 200,000 guests annually and is home to more than 100 species of animals. It says the Hattiesburg Convention Commission began managing the zoo in 2010. Wikipedia says the zoo sits in a grove of oak and pine trees and is divided into geographic sections, with animal exhibits covering amphibians, birds, invertebrates, mammals and reptiles.

The zoo is at 107 S 17th Avenue, and its website lists a general email address of zoomail@hattiesburg.org.

History

According to the zoo's website, the zoo opened in 1950 on about 12 acres of the 40-acre Kamper Park, and since then has grown from a park with a minimal number of animal exhibits into the attraction it is today. Wikipedia reports that the zoo held a year-long 75th anniversary celebration in 2025.

The website's timeline marks changes since the Convention Commission took over management in 2010. A splash pad opened in 2011. In 2013 the zoo animal hospital and the Touch Africa petting zoo opened. The 2,200 square foot Asbury Discovery Center opened in 2014 as a combined laboratory, classroom and office space. In 2015 the Bug Hub play area was created, and sculptors Eric Eaves and C. G. Lee donated the Miss Hattie sculpture in front of the ticket booth. The website lists 2016 as the year Safari Grill and the High Ropes Adventure Course opened, and adds that C. G. Lee donated a bronze sculpture of Tigger that stands outside the tiger habitat. WDAM reported that the zoo opened Australia, its fourth continent, with the interactive Wallaby Walkabout exhibit in February 2018. Camp Capybara opened in 2017, offering overnight adventures for groups.

In 2021 the Africa Expansion opened, which the website says included a new giraffe barn, Ladha's Cantina with a rooftop event space, an event pavilion, new restrooms, animal housing facilities, two reticulated giraffes, two hyenas and two colobus monkeys, and that the zoo also welcomed two chacoan peccaries and a baby sloth that year. Wikipedia says the expansion had been presented to the city council in January 2018 and added new exhibits for giraffes, colobus monkeys and spotted hyenas. In 2022 the zoo's all-electric train came online, and the zoo welcomed a cotton top tamarin, a baby sloth and a baby colobus monkey both born at the zoo, ten species of exotic chickens, and two Mandarin ducks. The timeline for 2023 records the death of a Sumatran tiger named Kipling in May and the September arrival of a bongo antelope and three spider monkeys.

Exhibits and habitats

Wikipedia describes the Africa area as the zoo's northernmost section. It includes a large veldt area with Grant's zebras, bongos, ostriches and East African crowned cranes, along with other exhibits. The zoo's animal directory lists plains zebras, reticulated giraffes, a bongo antelope, spotted hyenas, colobus monkeys, DeBrazza's monkeys, servals, fennec foxes, Cape porcupines, blue duikers, southern ground hornbills, Von der Decken's hornbills, African helmeted guinea fowl and African spurred tortoises.

South American species named in the directory include giant anteaters, lowland tapirs, capybaras, chacoan peccaries, black howler monkeys, spider monkeys, alpacas, Chilean flamingos and blue and gold macaws. Other mammals listed include ring-tailed lemurs, black and white ruffed lemurs, two-toed sloths, a prehensile-tailed porcupine, kinkajous, wallabies and black-tailed prairie dogs. The reptile list includes American alligators, Galapagos tortoises, gopher tortoises, box turtles and several snakes, and birds of prey include golden eagles, red-tailed hawks, barn owls, barred owls and great horned owls.

The zoo's Australian Wallaby Walkabout, which WDAM described as barrier-free when it opened, is a petting-zoo style attraction with wallabies, a KuneKune pig and emus. The Hoof Stop petting zoo offers Nigerian Dwarf Goats to pet and feed. Wikipedia says the Asbury Discovery Center also provides habitats for reptiles, a Galapagos tortoise, sloths, a porcupine and a hornbill, along with ambassador animals used in educational programs.

Giraffe feedings take place daily from 11 a.m. to noon from a feeding platform, according to the website, where visitors feed the two giraffes, Grace and Alberta, with lettuce or browse. The session is weather dependent and tickets are sold at Ladha's Market under the Giraffe Pavilion.

Conservation and programs

The zoo's website describes a conservation wristband program that supports two efforts: the Giant Anteater Fund, which concerns the giant anteater's habitat in Brazil's Cerrado, and the Jaguar SSP Conservation Initiative, which supports staffing at Belize's Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, which the site describes as the world's only reserve established specifically to conserve jaguar habitat. Wristbands are sold in the gift shop.

Closer to home, staff from across the Convention Commission gather twice a year to clean up local rivers and roadsides, according to the website. In 2019 the zoo began a Mardi Gras bead recycling program in partnership with the ARC of New Orleans, which sorts and repackages the beads for sale.

The zoo's EdZOOcation pages describe education and outreach programs. The Outreach Program brings zoo animals to schools, libraries and community facilities, primarily in the Pine Belt and parts of central and south Mississippi, with a mileage fee possible depending on distance. Ambassador animals, including an African grey parrot named Taco, ball pythons, a bearded dragon, a blue-tongued skink and box turtles, are used mainly for birthday parties, outreach and field trips. A docent and volunteer program trains volunteer educators to talk with guests about animals and conservation. Field trips and overnight adventures, birthday parties and pavilion rentals are also listed.

Paid experiences supplement general admission. The website lists an Anteater and Capybara Feeding Experience on Saturdays at 11 a.m., a South America Yard Experience with alpacas and capybaras on Sundays at 11 a.m., a Giraffe Experience on Sundays at 2 p.m. that includes a tour of the giraffe barn, and a Sloth Experience; the website gives differing days for the sloth sessions, so its schedule is best confirmed with the zoo. Each experience is limited to six or eight guests a week and has a minimum age, and fees are on the zoo's website.

Planning your visit

As listed on the zoo's website, the zoo is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. from March through December, and Friday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in January and February. The zoo lists itself as closed on Mondays all year, on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, on December 24 and 25, and on January 1 and 2. Ticket sales end at 3:30 p.m. daily, and the zoo directs visitors to its Facebook page for weather closures and updates. The zoo is a cashless venue, according to its admission page.

The website says tickets purchased online before 5 a.m. on the day of a visit cost less than tickets bought at the booth, with separate rates for children, adults, seniors and groups of 20 or more booked in advance on Tuesday through Thursday; children under two are free. Ticket details are on the zoo's website. Train and carousel rides are sold separately. The electric train, introduced in partnership with Mississippi Power in February 2022, circles the zoo's perimeter, with rides beginning at 10:30 a.m. and the last at 4 p.m., and the carousel is a 1941 British-made Arrow Carousel that was moved to its current location in 2013. Other attractions include the four-story High Ropes Adventure Course, open Friday through Sunday during zoo hours with separate tickets in 30-minute increments, a Mining Expedition beside the ropes course, a splash pad and the Bug Hub playground.

Parking is reached from 17th Avenue and Camp Street, with the entrance adjacent to Camp Street, and overflow parking is allowed in the Hardy Street Baptist Church lot adjacent to 17th Avenue. The website says strollers, wagons and electric convenience vehicles are available to rent with a government-issued ID, and wheelchairs are free with ID.

The zoo's rules say it is smoke free and that no outside food or beverages may be brought in. Dining options include Safari Grill, Ladha's Cantina, Snow Cone Caboose and Zawadi's Market. Weapons, bikes, rollerblades, skates, skateboards, hoverboards, fireworks, inflatable objects, scooters, balloons and streamers are not allowed. Pets are not permitted. Trained service dogs and miniature horses are welcome.