spooky season

Spirited Texas shivers in 1st place as most haunted state in America

There might be a few ghosts and ghouls hanging around the Alamo.

Moving into the Halloween season means Texans are about to see an uptick in spine-chilling experiences all over the state. And the Lone Star State is definitely earning its keep as one of the most haunted states in America, according to two new studies.

Although moving experts MoveBuddha and online casino reviewers BonusFinder.com are certainly not paranormal experts, they both have access to lots of population data, and have spent time compiling creepy coincidences to find the epicenter.

Texas earned No. 9 overall in MoveBuddha's report, but BonusFinder put Texas in the lead as the No. 1 spooky state in the country. The former developed three different categories to determine the rankings with eight different metrics, whereas the latter study only used four metrics and compared scores per 100,000 people.

Overall, there were more than 7,500 reported ghost sightings per 100,000 people in the state during the comparison period, according to BonusFinder. For context, the U.S. Census Bureau said Texas' population had grown to 29.53 million people in 2021. That's a more than a gaggle of ghosts.

Some other metrics analyzed by MoveBuddha included the in the number of haunted places, unsolved homicides, noteworthy abandoned buildings, and ghost towns per capita; plus the age of the state's oldest town and cemetery. BonusFinder's study included the number of paranormal activities per state and the number of paranormal investigators from the state.

The unforgettable Alamo in San Antonio is just one source of many ghost sightings throughout the years.

"The iconic Alamo, celebrated for its significant role in Texan history, is rumored to be inhabited by the lingering spirits of the courageous soldiers who once battled there," the BonusFinder study said.

Texas also claims more than 13,700 cemeteries, the second highest number of cemeteries out of all 50 states, and 925 supposedly haunted locations.

The top 10 most haunted states in America, according to BonusFinder, are:

No. 1 – Texas
No. 2 – Maine
No. 3 – Florida and Vermont (tied)
No. 5 – North Dakota
No. 6 – South Dakota
No. 7 – West Virginia
No. 8 – Kentucky
No. 9 – Montana
No. 10 – Iowa

texas reports halloween

what's new at the zoo

Houston Zoo welcomes Kirby, a newly-born Asian elephant

The Houston Zoo Asian elephant herd increased by one last week.

Photo by Kevin Kendrick/Houston Zoo

Kirby is a healthy baby girl elephant!

The Houston Zoo is going to need a very big rattle for its latest addition. On Friday, November 15 at 3 pm, the zoo’s amiable Asian elephant matriarch Shanti, 34, gave birth to a baby girl named Kirby. This is Shanti’s seventh baby with longtime pachyderm boyfriend, Thailand, 58.

Kirby weighed 314 pounds at birth, quite a bit smaller than her older sibling Nelson, born in 2020, and slightly larger than her big sister Joy, born in 2017. Shanti’s pregnancy lasted 21 months, a common length for Asian elephants but still the second longest gestation in the mammal class after their African cousins.

Within six minutes, Kirby was on her feet, and she was walking within a half hour. The birth took place in the McNair Asian Elephant Habitat cow barn, where Shanti and Kirby will spend several more days before being sent out to public viewing.

The Houston Zoo’s elephant breeding program has been a vital part of increasing the Bornean elephant population since it began in 2007. Portions of entrance fees go toward the work of Dr. Nurzhafarina “Farina" Othman, who specializes in local education and activism in Borneo to ease the tensions between humans and elephants. Elephants have been known to decimate crops leading to conflict. Othman’s work has helped landowners in Borneo fund solutions that keep the elephant population alive. The zoo’s support was partially responsible for doubling the Bornean population in 2018.

Elephants have been a part of the Houston Zoo since it was founded. In 2017, the zoo opened the McNair Asian Elephant Habitat, a massive new enclosure with walkways for visitor viewing and pools for the elephants to frolic in and escape the Texas heat. The exhibit includes everything from fountains to a specialized puzzle tree that elephants can blow into for treats.

The zoo has also been on the cutting edge of animal medicine. In June, 40-year-old Asian elephant Tess was given the first ever mRNA vaccine for elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV) 1A. Baylor College of Medicine pioneered this fight against a particularly deadly disease among elephants. All in all, it has been a big year for the zoo’s biggest residents.

houston zoo elephant

spooky season

Spirited Texas shivers in 1st place as most haunted state in America

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what's new at the zoo

Houston Zoo welcomes Kirby, a newly-born Asian elephant

CultureMap Emails Are Awesome
Get Houston intel delivered daily.