1926 Municipal Zoo in Bringhurst Park, Where the Director Who Dedicated 34 Years to the Animals Never Quite Left
3016 Masonic Dr, Alexandria, LA 71301
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
General admission fee; see the zoo's official website for current pricing and hours.
Access
Wheelchair OK
33-acre park grounds; paved paths through animal habitats
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1926 · Municipal Zoo Since 1926 · Saved from USDA Closure by Community Action (FOTAZ) · Hurricane Laura Damage and Rebuilding (2020-2021)
The Alexandria Zoological Park opened in 1926 in Bringhurst Park in south Alexandria, initially as 'a row of cages' in the terminology of the era. The facility operated at a basic level through the mid-twentieth century.
By the late 1960s and early 1970s, the U.S. Department of Agriculture threatened to close the zoo for failing to meet standards. The threat prompted the formation of the Friends of the Alexandria Zoo (FOTAZ), a community support organization that has been central to the zoo's development since. Robert Leslie Whitt was hired as director in 1974. Over the next 34 years, Whitt transformed the zoo from a facility in danger of shuttering into a regional institution with 33 acres of animal habitats and approximately 500 animals.
Whitt was known by staff for his hands-on engagement with the animals and his habit of playing pranks on colleagues. He died of a heart attack six days before his 56th birthday — a detail that became central to the institution's memory of him and to the paranormal tradition that developed after his death.
Hurricane Laura struck in August 2020, causing extensive damage to the zoo grounds including the destruction of the cougar habitat and the felling of over 70 trees. The facility closed for repairs and reopened on March 12, 2021. In 2024 the zoo lost its membership with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, a development the City of Alexandria was working to address. The zoo remains operated by the city's Division of Public Works.
Sources
Robert Leslie Whitt ran the Alexandria Zoo for 34 years, long enough to know every animal and most of the building's maintenance quirks. He was, by staff accounts, a man of strong attachment to the place — and a chronic prankster who kept the staff on their toes.
Whitt died of a heart attack six days before turning 56. The specificity of that number — six days — features in every account of him, as though the nearness to the birthday made the death more than usually abrupt.
After his death, staff began reporting the kinds of things associated with an 'intelligent haunting' — a presence that shows familiarity with the location and behaves purposefully rather than randomly. They report hearing Whitt's voice in areas where he used to spend time. They report seeing his apparition moving between habitats. And they report the same kinds of disorienting small jokes that he was known for arranging while alive: objects not where they were left, minor disruptions that carry no logic except as pranks.
The Alexandria Zoo's paranormal tradition is gentler in character than most sites in this category — no violent death, no tragedy beyond the ordinary grief of losing a devoted director too soon. It fits a pattern seen at institutions where a single person's identity becomes inseparable from the place itself.
Notable Entities
A 33-acre municipal zoo in Bringhurst Park operated by the City of Alexandria since 1926, with approximately 500 animals. Robert Leslie Whitt served as director for 34 years after his 1974 hire, transforming the zoo from a USDA-threatened closure to a regional institution. He died of a heart attack six days before his 56th birthday, and staff have reported hearing his voice and seeing his apparition on the grounds since.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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