Jackson Jambalaya

You could bring in The Tiger King and Carol Baskin for a faceoff and my white @ss isn't going down there. It's just not worth it. I don't think you'll change many other people's opinions either.

Congrats Ward 7. Parkinson is your new zero! While you're paying Virgi and Blount's stupid CID taxes Parkinson will vote to dilute that value add by siphoning off other ad val supported general funds into the red-ink gulping Zoo. You losers in Belhaven always amaze!

“The zoo looks no worse than the Hattiesburg Zoo did 20 years ago and look at [the Hattiesburg Zoo] now.”

Is she delusional?

The Hattiesburg Zoo is a gem and has gotten better over time because the city and citizens support it.

Jackson can’t even keep their water on of roads from falling apart.

She’s an idiot.

Just close it and be done with this debacle. Jackson can’t help it, they don’t know any better.

If these numbers are correct, the average visitor spent $3.98 per person to visit the zoo. Too many free visits? No one buys food or beverages or rides the train?

Just for shats and giggles, what was the revenue 10 years ago, 15, 20, 40, 60...gauged for inflation?

That zoo used to be a destination venue with people driving in from hundreds of miles away for a vacation weekend.

Makes zero sense to keep it open and pretend things will get better.

This is why elections matter. Stop electing fools who do not understand reality.

The Jackson Zoo owes millions in...water bills...because of...a leaky moat. And no one knows if the leak is fixed. Meanwhile, over in federal court...

Speaks volumes. Literally.

I had my childs birthday party at the zoo in the 80’s….it was very nice then
Everybody see’s the hand writing on the wall…they just don’t think it’s for them.
Jackson cannot afford a zoo and it’s not worth risking your life in a war zone to go there! Black or White…..write that down City Council

The Hattiesburg Zoo is not run by the
city.

Awhile back wasn't there volunteers
cleaning up the zoo. That's zoo workers
job. What do they spend their budget on? The city council should want to
know.

I haven't been back to the zoo since like earth day 2018 when my kid was still little. Even then the Zoo was in sad shape.

Haven’t been since what they did to Beth. We regularly volunteered for Zoo Brew and other fundraisers and haven’t been back since.

"The Hattiesburg Zoo is not run by the city."

Neither is the Jackson Zoo...didn't you read all that stuff up at the top?

Actually it is and has been since 2020.

A zoo is a luxury that a city struggling with basic human services (water, trash pickup, schools, roads) can't afford. Close it. Today.

You're literally on the blog of a man who was on the board of the Jackson Zoological Society. He'll he was the one who broke news about misuse of funds due to Jackson not fixing water leaks. And was taken over by the city. Please use the search bar.

Close the flipping zoo, now!

Give it to the state and move it to the LeFlure's Bluff and let the state take over and enhance that are even more.

Animals disappearing, eh? Hmmm, antelopes, birds, and such ??

"Actually it is and has been since 2020."

Um, King..."run" being the operative word. In this case, I'd argue that if "run" means "operated by," it implies at least the tiniest amount of operational competence. Hence, "see above." Now, if we want to tack "into the ground" onto that word as far as the Jackson Zoo and turn it into a phrase, I'd readily agree.

I remember when going to the zoo was fabulous. Of course that was decades ago. Can we get the Las Vegas odds on getting shot in the Jackson Zoo vicinity vs the Hattiesburg zoo?

What they did to Beth? She was misusing bond funds for years, filing false reports to the state. The truth is, the zoo was in trouble long before she got fired. WHen it was caught, the Zoo was literally dead broke. DIdn't even have $500 in its account. Employees hadn't been paid. If she had just sounded the alarm a few years earlier instead of shuffling bond funds around, then it could have been better handled before the zo went totally broke.

(In all, the zoo has 118 total animals, down from 338 reported by Jackson Jambalaya in 2018)

Good Lord.

Seems I have 57 cottontail rabbits, 100 raccoons, 169 Possum's, many deer
in December ... along with one highly pissed off and clever armadillo year round.

And I don't charge anyone to watch the lil' critters.

The city needs to pay it's water bill. But
they are known to not pay their bills.

"...Please use the search bar."

Yes sir/ma'amI If I may suggest, lighten up, Francis (see what I did there?).

I was (literally) making a point. The city is NOT "running" the zoo (unless we want to append "into the ground") even it has the responsibility to do so. Again, I'll offer the "leaky moat" as evidence. What it is doing is failing to live up to yet another legal/charter responsibility.

+1,000,000

It literally is. All the employees at the zoo are city employees now.

"A 2016 study reported the Jackson Zoological Society could not get donations until the zoo was moved to a better location."

Common sense says the Jackson Zoological Society could not get visitors until the zoo was moved to a better location.

Anything democrats are in charge of, breaks. Smfh

Please no gentrification in this area. Let the locals have it 👻

If the zoo could be moved to Lefleurs Bluff Park, this move would be a major economic impact for Jackson. Get it out of the hood where families are afraid to take their children.

@7:56 PM is correct. Jackson needs to focus on their core services. Water, sewer, streets, drainage, crime, schools, trash pickup, etc. is where money and time needs to be allocated. If you fix those problems everything else will thrive. The city leaders don’t have common sense or business sense.

I haven’t seen anyone speak up for the animals. It is inhumane to keep them locked up in a zoo that is failing. Is it possible to loan the animals to another zoo until the Jackson Zoo can be renovated? Those poor animals must have miserable lives.

When you have Jackson area schools taking their zoo field trips to Hattiesburg instead of Jackson, it's time to move the zoo. This is literally happening now.

Lefluer's Bluff was just too perfect of an idea, with the Children's Museum, the Natural Science Museum, and the new playground right there. We can't get out of our own way.

"Jackson can’t even keep their water on of roads from falling apart. "

Well - that certainly clears that up. Thanks for contributing 5:10!

Animals in a zoo are miserable regardless of the circumstances or shape of the zoo.

Start paying people ten bucks to attend city council meetings as well as County Supervisor meetings and move those meetings to the Coliseum. Those meetings reflect the TRUE ZOOs in Jackson.

The Bluff is a great location but bad site. Period. For starters, it floods. It has flooded twice in the last decade. You've seen that water come up to Lakeland Drive. Good luck getting past USDA on that one. The site is also only 25 acres, the zoo is currently 33 acres. So you would have to shrink the zoo and there would not be any room for expansion. Keep in mind modern zoos are going to more spacious, free range exhibits. A better site would be over where the old car auction place used to be. Since they straightened out County Line Road, there is a bunch of land between that and Tougaloo that could be used. Would boost Tougaloo some. Got restaurants and retail right there on County Line and Renaissance.

@8:15 am. If you will donate or raise the $50 million that was estimated to be the cost of building it then maybe it could happen. The cost would probably be at least 50% more today. Until it is clear Jackson is a safe city that can also provide basic services no one should invest a dime much less many millions in the city.

Why do people keep saying "give it to the state?" Is there some notion that the state wants to operate a zoo? Shut it down and let a private entity or non-profit build a new zoo in another location if it is such a grand opportunity.

The comment about Councilwoman Tina Clay was both disrespectful and unnecessary. I agree with her perspective regarding the zoo and its potential.

I have personal experience working with the pandas, Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing, at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., as part of a Smithsonian internship. The zoo is located on the outskirts of the city, separate from the main Smithsonian museums. Many zoos are similarly not in the center of a city or along an interstate. Traveling to West Jackson is comparable to the time it took me to travel from the museums to the animal habitats.

Instead of being negative, let’s focus on ways to support the zoo. We could host a gala as a fundraiser, organize a zoo cleanup day, and encourage school visits. Partnering with Mississippi State University, Hinds Community College, and Jackson State University would broaden engagement and create meaningful educational opportunities.

Let’s think innovatively and work to support our mayor and all councilmembers in making the zoo a valuable resource for the community.

Closing this clusterfuck and relocating the animals does not forever foreclose Jackson re-establishing a great zoo in a great location once it can afford it. And by "afford," I mean at least in money and skillset. Location needs to be considered only after Jackson has at least those two precursor necessities well-covered. At the present, it has neither even partially understood.

A toddler cannot "run," for example, a Walmart Supercenter. It doesn't matter how much Bentonville will spend letting them try, nor how perfect the location. They simply do not have the ability. But HQ cannot reasonably expect the best manager in the company to "run" a store located where there are no customers, or, in a great location but given sparse inventory and no budget to hire workers. And it doesn't do stupid shit like that. Having skilled management available is among the first steps in it opening a new store. Obviously, budget isn't a serious issue on a single location, but you can bet your ass it does a lot of DD on the location. But only after the other things are covered.

Its worth the drive to Hattiesburg. Great zoo and plenty of good places to eat. Kudos to Hattiesburg leadership. To think, a Jackson councilperson held Hattiesburg up as the goal. My how our capitol has fallen.

The "what they did to Beth" comment is ignorant. She covered up the zoo's finances for three years while pulling a nice salary. She is lucky she just got fired.

I stand by everything I wrote about her as she does not deal in reality. You think fund-raising hasn't been tried? The donors you need to restore the zoo, and it's a massive amount of money, made it clear they will not donate unless it is moved. Period. You also have to raise money to restore the collection as it is shrinking month by month. The city does not have the money and legislators made it clear behind the scenes they would not appropriate money unless it was moved. It doesn't help the director misused state funds although she didn't personally profit from doing so.

Jackson's water is working like it
suppose to. The city doesn't operate
it that's why it works.

It is becoming abundantly clear that Jackson, at present, does not need a zoo. No one knows where it should be, no one knows how it should be funded, no one knows who should operate it. The only price being paid is by the poor animals that are forced to live in that squalor. Not only that, they have to fear for their lives from packs of roaming dogs (although I haven't heard that happening recently).
I love a zoo. I loved taking my son there 10+ years ago. But my daughter has never been. I don't feel like taking her to a place where over half the exhibits are empty and the ones that are populated are overrun with vegetation and falling apart. It is truly sad to see.

Let's throw some more $$ down that rathole-

Mississippi State University, with one of the premier veterinary programs in America, should certainly jump on the opportunity to open a MSU - Jackson Zoo. It gives grads a place to work and students a place to intern/co-op and it solves the current zoo problem. Maybe LeFleur’s isn’t the best site but it should certainly be in that general area. It doesn’t seem believable that the golf course (closed) couldn’t have dirt work done to make it a good site. Plenty of room there.

The Hattiesburg Convention Commission has operated the Hattiesburg Zoo since 2010. The zoo is small (12 acres) but impressive. The history of the zoo dates back to 1950 when the Kamper family donated the land, so generations have memories of Kamper Park and the zoo. I remember going to the Jackson Zoo as a child in the 1960s. I agree it is sad to think about animals living in the current conditions at the Jackson Zoo, and I agree a partnership with MSU Veterinary could be a win-win. Collaborate with all resources to find a solution. The current truth is no Jackson Zoo would be better than a bad Jackson Zoo.

Zoos are inhumane. Do a little research on what captivity does to exotic animals. Go look at some of the animal sanctuaries that have saved animals from zoos. Shut it down and use resources for other outdoor activities.

I really like this idea and this comment. Except for the LeFleur's aspect. The area seems large enough but it is not. I used to be on that bandwagon but there is not enough actual acreage. And per Special Kenny Stokes, "we ain't movin the zoo out of Jackson" (yes, I am aware that the Bluff is in Jackson)

The comment about Councilwoman Tina Clay was both disrespectful and unnecessary.

The Councilwoman better grow a thicker skin in a big hurry. She jumped into the game, the game isn't changing for her.

@9:50 is also not dealing in reality. Fundraising galas? ROFLMAO

9:03 must be new here.

Go ahead and start that up and let me know how much cooperation you get from city leadership.

They HATE you and HATE anything outside of their city limits or “culture”.

"Mississippi State University, with one of the premier veterinary programs in America, should certainly jump on the opportunity to open a MSU - Jackson Zoo. It gives grads a place to work and students a place to intern/co-op and it solves the current zoo problem."

I don't know if State would be interested, but it is a good and creative idea to explore. If it did have any interest -AND- either already has folks capable of running a zoo or can get them on board, then let State take the reins with the city shutting up and listening. As the city's operation of it has proved, good intentions and want-tos cannot overcome a complete lack of ability. In this case, to actually "run" (competently) a zoo. If State cannot provide that early in the process, it being involved won't make things any better.

But first things first. Close the zoo and relocate the animals - that's the only practical solution at this point for both the animals and the city. Then, if State has or can get folks that know what they are doing, proceed to developing a plan with, again, State taking the lead (and frankly, control). Get the financial aspect set up and ready to go, and then, start looking at locations. As I said in a previous post, the only way large projects, be they zoos or large retail locations, can succeed is step-by-step in a rational, organized fashion.

We must stand by our elected officials. Councilwoman Clay is an upstanding leader who deserves support, not insults. I have personally participated in successful fundraisers and would be glad to assist again. It is a new day with new opportunities to strengthen our community and invest in the zoo’s future.

From my own experience working with the pandas at the National Zoo, I know that location matters. A zoo positioned outside the center of a city—away from traffic and noise—can be ideal. The calls to “move the zoo” overlook the value of its current location in West Jackson.

Rather than dwelling on yesterday or past use of funds, let us look forward with vision and optimism. Together, we can build partnerships, foster innovation, and ensure that the zoo becomes a point of pride for our city and a resource for future generations.

1. Stand by our elected politicians. Councilman Clay is an upstanding individiual and needs support not insults. 2. I have personally participated in fundraisers and have had a positive experience and could help. It is a new day. 3. I have experience working with the pandas at a National Zoo. I take experience over people jumping up and saying "Move the zoo." The location is perfect outside the city and not in a noisy area with traffic area. 4. Let us not look at yesterday and what was done with funds, let us look forward to tomorrow.

WHERE IS PETA? They should be all over this!

I was going to buy 3:42 some rose colored glasses, but I see she already has some on.

Check it off the list.

Saying that the only problem the Jackson Zoo has is its location (or any other single thing) is about like saying the Titanic, and the folks on it, would have been just fine if there had just been one more jar of olives for the Martinis.

As to the city council, unless every single one of them, along with about 20 or 30 more folks currently working for the city, suddenly and inexplicably morph into experienced and knowledgeable zoo managers, all the sincere desires and positive thoughts in the world cannot competently manage and staff a zoo. And again, I'll point to millions of very critical dollars wasted as runoff (literally) by a leaky moat (that no one is sure isn't still leaking), even on its own, is strong evidence of lack of management competence, be it a zoo or anything else.

As far as a fundraiser fixing this, did I mention the Titanic and a jar of olives? But OK, let's go nuts and pretend this fundraiser is the miracle of the ages and raises so much money 10 Mississippi politicians couldn't steal even half of it in a year. Fuck fixing that ol' moat, build a new one that even Bezos' yacht would get lost in and with more fountains than the Bellagio. Problem solved, right? Wrong.

Well, now, you say, what in the hell is the problem NOW? You've got a zoo that no one currently or foreseeably "on board" knows how to competently manage in a location (and city) not many want to visit. But now there's money, money, MO-NAY!, you say, just hire a staff. OK, fine. Use the first few hundred to buy the gun you'll need to force 20-30-more? poor SOBs to leave their current positions to come work for a zoo...that no one wants to go to...in a city the conscripted, like so many others, almost certainly don't even want to visit much less live. Which brings us back yet again to the Titanic and olives - when the ship is sinking into freezing water, you damned well better have a clear head and your priorities in order if you want to survive.

Mississippi HAS a zoo. It's in Hattiesburg.

Those not satisfied with this answer, should refer to the posts at 1:57 and 6:55.