An exposition and a flight cage
Animal exhibits on this site date back to the World Cotton Centennial of 1884. The zoo opened in 1914, with a flight cage added in 1916 and a sea lion pool in 1928.
Decline and rebuilding
Depression-era works added animal houses and Monkey Hill, but by the early 1970s the zoo had declined. In 1975 voters approved the funding that rebuilt it and enlarged it from 14 to 50 acres.
White alligators
In 1987 eighteen white hatchlings were found in an alligator nest, and the white alligator became a symbol of the zoo. Look for them in the Louisiana Swamp.



