Set in a 55-acre lush tropical landscape, the Houston Zoo is home to more than 4,500 exotic animals representing more than 800 species. The Houston Zoo was named one of the top 10 zoos in the U.S. by Parents magazine in 2009.
The Houston Zoo’s Wildlife Carousel opened May 1, 2004, located at the entrance to the John P. McGovern Children’s Zoo. The carousel is a unique work of art, hand carved and painted by skilled craftsmen from Carousel Works in Mansfield, Ohio. Many of the exotic animals represented on the carousel can be found in the Zoo such as the Okapi, Bongo, Babirusa and Giant Eland. In addition, creatures special to Texas are present as well, including the only armadillos known to exist on as carousel figures.
Houston Zoo Habitats:
Natural Encounters
A first of its kind concept in zoo exhibitry, Natural Encounters brings Zoo guests nose to nose with meerkats, tamarins, Asian small-clawed otters, and spectacular coral.
Tropical Bird House
Home to more than 100 of the Zoo’s 800 birds, the focus of the Tropical Bird House is a free-flight tropical rainforest aviary. The aviary’s elevated bridge and viewing platforms provide a bird’s eye view of more than sixty of the world’s most beautiful creatures, including the newest arrivals – elephant shrews. Surrounding the Tropical Bird House, the Zoo’s outdoor aviaries display flamingos, red-crowned cranes and the largest collection of turacos, African forest birds, on exhibit in the country.
John P. McGovern Children's Zoo
Get eye to eye with a prairie dog, see an eagle’s nest and watch a river otter play underwater at the new $6.5 million Children’s Zoo. Forty exhibits take visitors through the six ecosystems of Texas: the city, Gulf Coast, desert, forest, prairie and the farm. Pop-up domes allow guests to get “inside” the prairie dog habitat. Visit a realistic bat cave or stroll on a boardwalk through a Texas forest. The Discovery Center features hands on activities for children.
Kipp Aquarium
The Kip Aquarium’s twenty five exhibits take visitors on a world tour from the coral reefs of the Pacific to the Amazon basin and Mojave Desert streams. Exhibit highlights include Australia’s endangered weedy sea dragon, rare desert pupfish, red bellied piranha, and venomous lion fish.
Wortham World of Primates
Located in the heart of the Zoo, Wortham World of Primates offers up close viewing of some of the world’s most fascinating and intelligent creatures. Nestled in a naturalistic setting, Wortham World’s boardwalks and tree houses allow visitors to observe the behavior of a wide variety of threatened and endangered primates including mandrills, lemurs, agile gibbons, red capped mangabey, siamangs, patas monkeys, Bolivian gray titis, cotton top and golden lion tamarins, howler monkeys, and Sumatran and Bornean orangutans.
Spectacled Bears
Deeply rooted in the myths and history of Andean culture, spectacled bears are considered the pandas of South America (Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia). Like pandas, spectacled bears are carnivores that have independently adopted vegetarian diets. The Zoo’s naturalistic spectacled bear habitat features a waterfall, stream and pool, natural grass substrate, climbing features and additional shade.
Koala Crossing
Experience a little bit of Australia, mate, when you visit Derrilin and Yannathan at Koala Crossing. Threatened by habitat destruction in their native habitat, our “ambassadors of Australia” have captured the hearts of Houstonians since their arrival in 1999. The Houston Zoo is one of only 10 zoos in the world to have breed koalas successfully.
Albert and Margaret Alkek Komodo and Crocodile Monitor Exhibit
This open air, glass fronted exhibit houses two Komodo dragons and four crocodile monitors. Endangered in the tropical savanna forests of Indonesia and New Guinea, these extremely large and beautiful lizards have thrived since their arrival in February 2002.
Reptile House
Eighty separate exhibits display more than 300 specimens representing more than 130 species including the most diverse collection of venomous snakes found in any zoo in North America. The Reptile House also is also home to some of the world’s most rare and endangered amphibians including Panamanian Golden and Vietnamese mossy backed frogs. The focus of the building’s award winning design is Blanco, one of only 14 leucistic (absence of color) American alligators on exhibit in the world.
Okapis
What has horns like a giraffe, a neck like a horse, and legs like a zebra? It’s an okapi, the only known living relative of the giraffe. Okapis were unknown to western science until 1901. Also known as forest giraffes, okapis live a solitary existence in their native Congo, coming together only to mate. Their dark brown velvety coat and zebra striped legs serve as camouflage in the dense African rainforest.
Giant Eland
Native to central Africa, giant eland are the largest antelopes in the world weighing up to 1,200 pounds. Houston Zoo’s Enterprise Products Partners Giant Eland Exhibit features a raised viewing platform that provides guests with an exceptionally close view of these regal creatures as they graze within a shaded landscape near zebras, camels and kudu. Accompanying educational graphics enhance awareness of this rare species, its natural habitat and conservation efforts to save it from extinction.
African Lions
View these impressive big cats from our elevated viewing platform or close up through a reinforced acrylic observation panel. And don’t miss daily keeper chats and training sessions with our Celesto and our king of the jungle, Jonathan.
Indochinese Tigers
Less than 2,000 of these beautiful animals are left in the rainforest and mangrove swamps of southeast Asia. Guests at Houston Zoo can view our males, Pandu and Jammu from an elevated viewing platform or up close during daily keeper chats and training sessions.
Janice Suber McNair Asian Elephant Habitat
Houston Zoo’s Asian elephant herd consists of the male, Thai, and three females: Me-Thai, Shanti and her son Mac. Born October 1, 2006, Mac weighed 384 pounds at birth – setting a world record for a newborn Asian elephant calf. These highly intelligent creatures are endangered in the open grasslands, savannas, marshes and forests of India, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Scientists estimate that there are less than 50,000 wild Asian elephants. By comparison, there are 600,000 wild African elephants.
Zoo History
Founded in 1922, the Zoo is an exciting live animal adventure that provides a unique educational and conservation resource serving 1.5 million guests annually. In 1920, the U. S. government thinned bison herds in national parks and presented one of the animals as a gift to the City of Houston. The arrival of the bison, named Earl, sparked renewed interest in expanding a small zoo that had been established in a small corner of Sam Houston Park in downtown Houston. In 1921, the City of Houston purchased an assortment of snakes, birds and alligators, and in 1922 a fence was erected around a tract of land in Hermann Park to house the collection. The inventory included forty animals, prompting the hiring of the first zoo keeper, Hans Nagel.
From its humble beginnings, the Houston Zoo has grown to become the seventh most visited zoo in the nation and is widely respected for its conservation and education programs. For generations, the Houston Zoo has been a popular destination for family outings. Today it is also a model for animal care and behavioral enrichment. Every visit is a new adventure into the natural and diverse world of animals.
Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau - Member
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