Jackson Zoo, Wildlife center in Jackson, Mississippi, US

Jackson Zoo is a wildlife facility in Jackson featuring separate habitats for mammals, birds, reptiles, and aquatic animals. The grounds have walking paths that connect all the animal exhibits throughout the property.

In 1916 Jackson bought 79 acres from Samuel Livingston; by 1919 firefighters kept a growing animal collection in the central fire station, and in 1921 it moved to Livingston Park. WPA funds built many structures in the 1930s, including the Castle, then Monkey Island for rhesus macaques. In 1948 Jacob L. Reddix of Jackson State College helped buy chimpanzees, mangabeys and pythons from Liberia's government.

The zoo's name recalls the Livingston Park site the city bought from Samuel Livingston in 1916. The 2004 Endangered Species Carousel, installed by the Friends of the Zoo, replaces horses with zebras, leopards, giraffes and tigers, and includes an accessible alligator bench. The zoo joined the Zoo Area Progressive Partnership in 1996 to help regenerate surrounding neighbourhoods.

The zoo is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 AM to 4 PM and has plenty of walking paths connecting the exhibits. Comfortable shoes are a good idea since the grounds cover more area than they might first appear.

The zoo's 2004 Endangered Species Carousel, installed by the Friends of the Zoo, replaces the usual horses with zebras, leopards, giraffes and tigers, and includes an alligator bench built for wheelchair access. In 1948, Jackson State College president Jacob L. Reddix helped the zoo buy rainforest animals from the government of Liberia, among them three chimpanzees, three mangabey monkeys, a colobus, a lemur and two pythons.