The Houston Zoo is a

zoological park A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zool ...

located within Hermann Park in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, Texas, United States. The zoo houses over 6,000 animals from more than 600 species. It receives 2.1 million visitors each year and is the second most visited zoo in the United States. It is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). The Houston Zoo's mission statement is "The Houston Zoo connects communities with animals, inspiring action to save wildlife." The zoo has been operated by the non-profit corporation Houston Zoo since 2002, and was previously operated by the City of Houston.

Exhibits

African Forest

Called the most ambitious project in the zoo's then 88-year history, the African Forest officially opened on December 10, 2010. The exhibit is home to many

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n species, including the Grant's zebra, White rhinoceros,

Red River hog The red river hog (''Potamochoerus porcus'') or bushpig (a named also used for the '' Potamochoerus larvatus''), is a wild member of the pig family living in Africa, with most of its distribution in the Guinean and Congolian forests. It is rarel ...

, Masai giraffe,

Ostrich Ostriches are large flightless birds of the genus ''Struthio'' in the order Struthioniformes, part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There are ...

chimpanzee The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...

, and

western lowland gorilla The western lowland gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla gorilla'') is one of two Critically Endangered subspecies of the western gorilla (''Gorilla gorilla'') that lives in Montane ecosystems#Montane forests, montane, Old-growth forest, primary and sec ...

. In 2011, the ''Houston Press'' gave the Houston Zoo the Best of Houston® Award for Best New Ecosystem. In November 24, 2020, a new male

Pygmy hippopotamus The pygmy hippopotamus or pygmy hippo (''Choeropsis liberiensis'') is a small hippopotamid which is native to the forests and swamps of West Africa, primarily in Liberia, with small populations in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Ivory Coast. It has bee ...

named Silas first arrived to the Houston Zoo from the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha. Silas died due to an illness on October 10,2022.

McNair Asian Elephant Habitat

The McNair Asian Elephant Habitat is home to the Houston Zoo's herd of

Asian elephant The Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living species of the genus ''Elephas'' and is distributed throughout the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India in the west, Nepal in the no ...

s. It features a 7,000-square-foot barn custom-built to house the bull elephants, a brand-new expanded habitat with a boardwalk with an unobstructed view of the elephants in their new yard, and a 160,000-gallon pool.

Birds

The Houston Zoo boasts one of the largest collections in any US zoo, with more than 800 birds from over 200 species. It includes a range of diverse birds, including the

Mariana fruit dove The Mariana fruit dove (''Ptilinopus roseicapilla''), also known as in the Carolinian language, ''totot'' on Guam or ''Paluman totut'' in Northern Marianas Islands, is a small, up to 24 cm long, green fruit dove native and endemic to Guam an ...

Micronesian kingfisher Micronesian kingfisher is a common name used to refer to several species of bird of the genus ''Todiramphus'' found in neighboring island countries of the western Pacific Ocean. * Guam kingfisher The Guam kingfisher (''Todiramphus cinnamominus'' ...

, Congo peafowl, and green-winged macaw.

Carnivores

Hosting the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

's mascot Shasta the

Cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') is a large Felidae, cat native to the Americas. Its Species distribution, range spans from the Canadian Yukon to the southern Andes in South America and is the most widespread of any large wild terrestrial mamm ...

, the carnivore exhibit is also home to the

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

, malayan tiger,

clouded leopard The clouded leopard (''Neofelis nebulosa''), also called the mainland clouded leopard, is a wild cat inhabiting dense forests from the foothills of the Himalayas through mainland Southeast Asia into South China. In the early 19th century, a cl ...

American black bear The American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), also called simply a black bear or sometimes a baribal, is a medium-sized bear endemic to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most widely distributed bear species. American black bear ...

, African wild dog, leopard, and cheetah.

Sea lions

The Sea Lion Pool is located by the zoo entrance and is home to

California sea lion The California sea lion (''Zalophus californianus'') is a coastal eared seal native to western North America. It is one of six species of sea lions. Its natural habitat ranges from southeast Alaska to central Mexico, including the Gulf of C ...

s Jonah, Cali, Kamia, TJ and her pup Max.

Allen H. and Ethel G. Carruth Natural Encounters

The Allen H. and Ethel G. Carruth Natural Encounters is a special building at the zoo where an adventure through an entire continent is simulated. Visitors learn about animals from the

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

’s edge,

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

canopy,

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

, and

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...

. Animals housed in the exhibit include the

Asian small-clawed otter The Asian small-clawed otter (''Aonyx cinereus''), also known as the oriental small-clawed otter and the small-clawed otter, is an otter species native to South and Southeast Asia. It has short claws that do not extend beyond the pads of its web ...

, Damaraland mole-rat, golden lion tamarin, golden-headed lion tamarin,

meerkat MeerKAT, originally the Karoo Array Telescope, is a radio telescope consisting of 64 antennas in the Meerkat National Park, in the Northern Cape of South Africa. In 2003, South Africa submitted an expression of interest to host the Square Kilom ...

naked mole-rat The naked mole-rat (''Heterocephalus glaber''), also known as the sand puppy, is a burrowing rodent native to the Horn of Africa and parts of Kenya, notably in Somali regions. It is closely related to the blesmols and is the only species in th ...

, Pygmy marmoset,

white-faced saki The white-faced saki (''Pithecia pithecia''), called the Guianan saki and the golden-faced saki, is a species of the New World saki monkey. They can be found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela. This species lives in the und ...

Hoffmann's two-toed sloth Hoffmann's two-toed sloth (''Choloepus hoffmanni''), also known as the northern two-toed sloth is a species of sloth from Central and South America. It is a solitary, largely nocturnal and arboreal animal, found in mature and secondary rainf ...

, Eastern collared lizard, and Victoria crowned pigeon.

Wortham World of Primates

A winding boardwalk through a natural setting, this exhibit displays a variety of rare and endangered primates, including lemurs,

monkey Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...

gibbon Gibbons () are apes in the family Hylobatidae (). The family historically contained one genus, but now is split into four extant genera and 20 species. Gibbons live in subtropical and tropical rainforest from eastern Bangladesh to Northeast India ...

s, and

orangutan Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus ...

Texas Wetlands

Opened in March 2019, this new exhibit displays three native species: American alligators, whooping cranes, and

bald eagle The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...

Reptile and Amphibian House

This building displays several venomous

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

s and exotic

amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...

s, including the blue iguana, crocodile monitor, and

reticulated python The reticulated python (''Malayopython reticulatus'') is a python species native to South and Southeast Asia. It is the world's longest snake, and is among the three heaviest. It is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List because of its wi ...

Bug House

Opened in 2014, this exhibit displays several insects and arachnids from a variety of forests, jungles, and deserts.

John P. McGovern Children’s Zoo

This area features a petting zoo and a realistic bat cave.

South America's Pantanal

The South America's Pantanal is a 4.2-acre exhibit that opened on October 10th, 2020. It displays the

blue-throated macaw The blue-throated macaw (''Ara glaucogularis''), also known as the Caninde macaw or Wagler's macaw, is a macaw endemic to a small area of north-central Bolivia, known as Los Llanos de Moxos. In 2014 this species was designated by law as a natura ...

jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

, giant river otter,

Baird's tapir The Baird's tapir (''Tapirus bairdii''), also known as the Central American tapir, is a species of tapir native to Mexico, Central America, and northwestern South America. It is the largest of the three species of tapir native to the Americas, as ...

greater rhea The greater rhea (''Rhea americana'') is a species of flightless bird native to eastern South America. Other names for the greater rhea include the grey, common, or American rhea; ema (Portuguese); or ñandú (Guaraní and Spanish). One of two sp ...

capybara The capybaraAlso called capivara (in Brazil), capiguara (in Bolivia), chigüire, chigüiro, or fercho (in Colombia and Venezuela), carpincho (in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) and ronsoco (in Peru). or greater capybara (''Hydrochoerus hydro ...

, and giant anteater.

Live webcams

The zoo offers nine exhibit webcams, including the Rhino Cam,Rhino Cam
/ref> Elephant Yard Cam,Elephant Yard Cam
/ref> and Leafcutter Ant Cam.Leafcutter Ant Cam
/ref>

Conservation

The Houston Zoo is an active partner in the

AZA Aza or AZA may refer to: Places *Aza, Azerbaijan, a village and municipality *Azadkənd, Nakhchivan or Lower Aza, Azerbaijan *Aza, medieval name of Haza, Province of Burgos, Spain *Aźa, a Tibetan name for the Tuyuhun kingdom *Aza, a Hebrew roman ...

's Species Survival Plan (SSP) Program, a population management and conservation program for selected species housed in North American zoos. The zoo supports more than a dozen

conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and manageme ...

projects in Texas and across the globe that assist in the survival of endangered wildlife and habitats. Projects include the Houston toad,

sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, ...

, Attwater's prairie chicken, Galapagos tortoise,

Bornean orangutan The Bornean orangutan (''Pongo pygmaeus'') is a species of orangutan endemic to the island of Borneo. Together with the Sumatran orangutan (''Pongo abelii'') and Tapanuli orangutan (''Pongo tapanuliensis''), it belongs to the only genus of great ...

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...

African lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus '' Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adult ...

frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

Brazilian tapir The South American tapir (''Tapirus terrestris''), also commonly called the Brazilian tapir (from the Tupi ''tapi'ira''), the Amazonian tapir, the maned tapir, the lowland tapir, the ''anta'' (Portuguese), and ''la sachavaca'' (literally "bushcow ...

rhinoceros A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

, African wild dog,

, okapi, and cheetah.

Gallery

File:Houston Zoo.jpg, Entrance to Houston Zoo File:Spotted_leopard.jpg, Jaguar File:Clownfish-Houston-Zoo.jpg, Clown fish File:Cassowary at the Houston Zoo.jpg, Cassowary File:Cheetahs-Houston-Zoo.jpg, Cheetahs File:Sea-lion-Houston-Zoo.jpg, Sea lion File:Shasta VI with trainer, September 2013.jpg, Shasta VI, the mascot of the

, with a Houston Zoo trainer

References

External links

* http://www.houstonzoo.org
Houston zoo virtual tour
{{authority control Zoos in Texas Culture of Houston

Zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for Conservation biology, conservation purposes. The term ''zoological g ...

1922 establishments in Texas Buildings and structures in Houston Zoos established in 1922 Hermann Park