AUDUBON PARK HOURS: Daily
AUDUBON PARK ADDRESS: 6500 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA 70118
TENNIS COURTS: Wed - Sun | 8 AM - 4 PM
*Please note new times and play restrictions due to COVID-19 response.
TENNIS COURTS ADDRESS: 6320 Tchoupitoulas Street, New Orleans, LA 70118
Seated in historic uptown New Orleans Audubon Park is a favorite spot for recreation, picnics or enjoying a beautiful day. For more than a century, people have enjoyed this urban oasis with allées of ancient live oaks, a tranquil 1.8-mile jogging path, a lagoon, picnic shelters, and playgrounds. Audubon Park is open to the public and also features tennis courts, riding stables, soccer fields, the Whitney Young Pool, Audubon Clubhouse Café and Audubon Golf Club.
While Audubon Park’s green spaces remain open to the public, Audubon Nature Institute is committed to supporting the City and State orders for the public to stay at home and practice physical distancing for the health and safety of our entire community. Audubon security is patrolling the Park, but we strongly encourage guests who witness gatherings or behaviors in the Park that violate those orders to call 311 and report them.
Audubon Park playgrounds and workout equipment areas are now reopened. We strongly encourage hand washing, masks and please maintain proper social distancing. Please note that Audubon is following the CDC recommendation that outdoor areas generally require normal routine cleaning and do not require disinfection.
AUDUBON PARK & RIVERVIEW PARK RULES
In 2020, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries reported that birds from the annual migration of wild black-bellied whistling ducks to the Greater New Orleans area had tested positive for avian cholera. This naturally occurring bacteria can result in death, especially when the bird is stressed, such as at the end of migration. Historically, whistling ducks have overwintered in water bodies in our region, including Audubon Zoo and Audubon Park ponds.
Since then, Audubon Nature Institute has worked with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to manage avian cholera by reducing sources of potential contamination. Last year, Audubon’s veterinary team did notice an increase in wild whistling duck mortality due to avian cholera in Audubon Zoo and Park. Audubon implemented new protocols to reduce the risk of contamination in our bird populations, including closing the Zoo’s aviary to the public and moving waterfowl out of the South American Pampas Lagoon. Once the migratory season had ended and we stopped seeing infections, we returned to normal operation.
LDWF predicted that we would continue to see cases of avian cholera in the New Orleans area for a three-year period, 2020-2022, and as we are entering the second winter, we have begun receiving reports of deceased ducks in Audubon Park again as expected. We are monitoring the situation closely and will implement protocols as necessary to manage the impact on Audubon Zoo and Park bird populations.
According to the Field Manual of Wildlife Disease by the National Wildlife Health Center, avian cholera is not considered a high-risk disease for humans. This is because there are many different strains of the bacteria, and humans don’t appear to be very susceptible to the avian strain. Rare cases of avian cholera in humans have been documented, however, so please do not pick up or handle dead wildlife. Common signs of avian cholera in birds are erratic flight, loss of head control (floppy necks), and mucous discharge from the nasal openings.
Please contact 504-212-5151 if you see distressed or deceased birds in Audubon Park. Click here for more information about avian cholera.