It only took the Hattiesburg Zoo two days to break its recently-set all-time attendance record – and in fact, it accomplished that feat three times in one week during the course of Spring Break.
On March 19, the zoo welcomed more than 5,000 visitors, breaking the record of 4,053 that was set on March 17. The zoo’s previous record of approximately 3,000 guests had been set the day before that, on March 16.
“It’s Spring Break, the weather was beautiful, and there’s so many new exhibits to see at the zoo and so much to do,” said Rick Taylor, executive director of the Hattiesburg Convention Commission, which runs the zoo. “I just think it was a perfect day, and for a lot of schools it was the end of Spring Break, so I think on Saturday we probably should have seen it coming.
“We knew it was going to be busy; we just didn’t know it was going to be that busy. All the stars sort of aligned for us.”
Taylor also attributed the record attendance to several new attractions at the zoo, including the recently-built Northwest Quadrant. That area now houses new exhibits for giraffes, hyenas and Colobus monkeys, as well as a pavilion and an additional concessions stand.
“I think the giraffes being out after the winter, the weather being pleasant, and the splash pad is on – it’s just everything,” Taylor said. “The zoo’s got some momentum, and it’s something that we see and feel, and we know we’ve got to build on.
“We’re going to do that with the development of the water park and some future exhibits. We’re going to start working on relocating our flamingoes and our alligators.”
There’s also the zoo’s new electric train, which is sponsored by Mississippi Power and was unveiled in late February. That train replaces the zoo’s diesel train, which is still kept on hand for use when two trains are needed to meet demand.
“Kids are like, ‘I want to wait for the green (electric) train,’” Taylor said. “It would be so busy that we’d have to put one of our older trains on with the green train, to be able to handle the number of people.
“So we heard a lot of kids asking to wait for the new all-electric train, and we do accommodate that if you’re willing to wait. So I think the train has been a big draw.”
In addition, zoo officials recently sent the zoo’s three macaques to the Baton Rouge Zoo, because of the difficulty of keeping that species in captivity. That move will allow them to free up space for a new exhibit, possibly an Asian sun bear.
“I won’t say dogmatically it’s a sun bear, but that’s what we want to try for,” Taylor said. “We haven’t checked on that to see.
“But I think there’s a lot of positive going on at the zoo, and people feel it and came out and enjoyed it, and we really appreciate that. They have a good time, and we have a good time when they do.”
In fact, given the record attendance, Taylor expects those numbers to be a sort of baseline going into the future.
“We had a very healthy staff meeting on Monday to address the fact that we’ve got to go ahead and accept that this is not an anomaly – we’ve got to prepare for this,” he said. “I think we’re going to see it continue, and of course that means the zoo can grow faster.
“We think it’s a very positive thing … and not only does it mean we still have jobs open, but we have more jobs open. So look at our website (www.hattiesburgconventioncommission.com) and come join us and all the 5,000 folks who visit us at the Hattiesburg Zoo; it’s a great place to be.”
In addition to the record attendance at the Hattiesburg Zoo, the Hattiesburg Pocket Museum – which another one of the convention commission’s attractions – saw its own record crowds as well recently. The museum, which is located in downtown Hattiesburg, set a new two-day record on March 16 and 17, welcoming more than 1,500 total visitors on those days.
