Audubon Zoo Photos of Audubon Zoo from the late 80s, early 90s. Who remembers?

[Leo-626]

Found some old photos (courtesy of an old book on Audubon Park) of the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans from the late 80s and 90s before the major renovations that took place around 2000. I was 10 years old or so when much of this was torn down for the new entry, so my memory is a little foggy. Does anyone remember what the three pagoda type buildings housed? I think the one on the right was a restaurant and one of the two on the left was a gift shop? I can’t remember what was in the third.



The old entry path pictured above was north of the current one. Once you passed these three buildings you had the sun bears and entry to Asian Domain on your right (left in photo above, where the couple with woman in pink is turning). You then had the theater and baby elephant statue on your right. This old entrance did not align with the fountain as it does today. I think I recall a duck pond right at the entrance in front of the pagoda building on the right in the picture above.

Here is a photo of what the above photo looks like today (access to back of house/staff area).



While I remember the three buildings above (just not what was in them) I have no memory of the building in the bottom right (across from the animal theater) in the birds eye photo below. Does anyone remember what this building was?
This building is the approximate location of where the Earth Lab/Frogs building is now located. The animal theater and adjacent buildings (you can see this in the second/present day google photo; the brick building with blue doors) to the North are still there today, as is the small brick building just below it (now stroller rental and info booth). The round brick building with the pond to the left was Monkey Island in the 30s but at the time of this photo in the 80s/90s was unused (I think). This is the approximate location of the new/current entrance and gift shop.

 

[Leo-626]

Some additional photos from the late 1980s and 1990s:

Below: Birds-eye view. Asian Domain in the forefront. The round circular brick building on the left was originally a giraffe house in the 1960s but in the 80s and 90s was part of the camel habitat. It was torn down a few years ago, which is unfortunate because it was designed by a locally famous architect (the same architect that designed the Superdome). This location is the new Asian Elephant habitat. The area just north of this is where the carousel and Cool Zoo (mini waterpark and lazy river) are now located.

Below: Old entry from parking lot.

Below: Approximate view of the above photo today:

Below: Old Elephant exhibit. This was replaced a few years ago by an oranguatan habitat and the elephants were moved to a MUCH LARGER habitat.

Below: Old pond/fountain:

Below: How the above pond looks today. (The elephant statues were actually changed/re-positioned and a lion statue was added but this is not yet on google views).

 

[nczoofan]

God that exhibit user to hold 4 elephants Did it ever hold more than that? The barn must have not even had enough room for them to turn around.

(And I know times have changed but even for those times that exhibit is puny)

 

[DavidBrown]

The Audubon zoo used to have an African elephant also?

 

[Okapi Lover]

The Audubon zoo used to have an African elephant also?

It would have been Eloise, now at the Oakland Zoo. She was at Audubon from 1982 to 1990.

See Wayback Machine

 

[MombasaRailroad]

Does anyone remember what the three pagoda type buildings housed?

Hi, I worked at the Audubon Zoo from 1982-1989. I drove the Mombasa Railroad and gave the tour through the Grasslands of the World (small Australian Outback, South American Pampas, and all of the African plains). The train (a four-car tram on tires) stopped at the Louisiana Swamp Exhibit once it opened, but it did not go through the exhibit.

Regarging the pagodas at the Zoo entrance, yes the two on the right side were gift shops. The one at the top left in the photo (closest to the zoo entrance, which is at the top of the photo) was for fine gifts: more expensive items like three-foot-high carved and painted wooden cheetah and zoo-themed jewelry. The second one on the left (farther away from the zoo entrance) sold more toys and souvenirs like stuffed animals, magnets, t-shirts, and so on.

The building on the right in the photo was a concession stand that made and sold pizza. I worked there a few times when I first started before I took over on the Mombasa Railroad.[/QUOTE]