The Hattiesburg Zoo hosted its Eggz-otic Easter Egg hunt last Saturday, April 3, and it was not your typical Easter Egg hunt. Instead of searching for Easter Eggs in your backyard, Hattiesburg Zoo made it a little more challenging by bringing the Easter Egg hunt to the zoo. 

There were eggs placed everywhere throughout the zoo in places that wouldn’t be easy to find. The hunt was made for both adults and children who were up for a good challenge.  Demetric Kelly, who works over the Guest Services and Retail at the Hattiesburg Zoo, explained what’s so special about the Eggz-otic Easter event. 

“What makes our egg hunt so special here at the Hattiesburg Zoo is [that] we strategically hide the eggs and make the very hard to find, and so that in itself makes this egg hunt not like any other egg hunt that you make go to,” said Kelly. 

Kelly also explained the unique prizes for discovering the golden eggs throughout the zoo, giving people of all ages a way to  and how the event is made for anyone of all ages. 

“There are some really cool prizes, [like] hand-painted ostrich eggs, and this is a really good event for everyone to attend […] young or old, everyone participates in this because the eggs are really hard to find,” Kelly said.

There have been many tourists, both local and out-of-state, to visit the zoo for the Eggz-otic Egg Hunt event. There were 100 Easter eggs hidden throughout the zoo for guests to find. The Eggz-otic Easter also had golden goose games, cottontail crafts, photos with the Easter Bunny and more.

Riley S., a guest at the Eggz-otic Egg Hunt, said she had a lot of fun looking for eggs.

“[I checked] the petting-zoo where you could go out and pet all them and hold them,” said Riley. “The one I was looking forward to was the koalas. I wanted to know if they were here because koalas are really cute and fuzzy and I want them as a pet.” 

Braelynn T., another guest at the event, agreed. 

“I was expecting that I would actually find an Easter Egg because I’ve been here once before to hold the sloths,” Braelynn explained, “but I didn’t really explore the rest of the zoo but I kind of just wished to find an Easter Egg.”

Other locals who attended the event enjoyed exploring the zoo in unexpected ways. 

“This isn’t really my first time here, but I’ve been here many times before and every time I came it’s actually been pretty fun because I get to ride the train and carousel but it’s a really fun place honestly because I get to see a lot of new animals,” said one guest.
The Eggz-otic Egg Hunt was a one-day only event that took place from 10am to 4pm. Any eggs that were left over or not found during the event will no longer be accepted for prizes, as you have to find them during the event. If anyone is interested in any future or upcoming events, please visit Hattiesburg Zoo’s Facebook page or visit their website at www.hattiesburgzoo.com.