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Longest tenured zookeeper Morgan Powers retires after 55 years

By , Daily Memphian Updated: August 01, 2026 5:07 PM CT | Published: August 01, 2026 4:00 AM CT

For years, one of the most popular exhibits at the Memphis Zoo was Monkey Island, which was demolished in the early 1990s.

Its inhabitants were surrounded by a fenced moat and electrical wiring, but in 1976, a group of Rhesus monkeys managed to escape. 

And they ran amok in Midtown.

Morgan Powers was one of the zookeepers tasked with catching them in nets, but the animals were quick and clever, and it wasn’t easy.

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John Klyce

John Klyce

John Klyce is an enterprise reporter with The Daily Memphian who writes a wide range of in-depth features, as well as profiles about local leaders, scientists, musicians, artists, entrepreneurs, and anyone else doing exciting and important work in this city. He previously spent four years with the Memphis Business Journal, where he covered public companies, startups, and innovation, and a fifth year with The Commercial Appeal, where he covered education, and chronicled how gun violence and poverty were affecting Memphis youth and their families. He has also been a fellow with the Institute for Citizens and Scholars. John has a B.A. in journalism from the University of Memphis and an M.F.A. in creative writing from Boston University.


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