Downtown Aquarium Houston Houston Aquarium is updating their tiger exhibit!

The all-indoor white tiger exhibit at the Downtown Aquarium in Houston is pretty well known around here for how awful it is. There have been multiple lawsuits back and forth between the aquarium and activists. Well, I was just looking at their website, and they are finally adding an outdoor, natural-looking area!
I'm not sure when this was added, but a search of the forums didn't find any mention of it.



A reminder of what the current exhibit looks like:


Now if only they'd stop glorifying white tigers...

 

I suppose when the white tigers pass away, they'll get SSP managed tigers like their sister aquarium in Denver.

 

I hope so!

 

Why are there tigers in an aquarium to begin with?!

 

Cause Tillman wants it.

Fertita, the owner of The Aquarium, Landry's, Saltgrass Steakhouse, Rainforest Cafe, Bubba Gump Shrimp, AND who also owns the Rockets and has a significant state in UH Sports, is generally regarded as someone with a pretty large ego. Sports subs generally acknowledge he may have some mob ties, but that's the kind of personality you're dealing with.

 

So where are they going to put it? From what I can see on Google Maps, space is rather limited. The only option is the train track area.

 

Denver’s Downtown Aquarium is owned by the same company and also has tigers. Although they are Sumatran tigers and part of the SSP. Their exhibit is also much larger and more realistic even though it also is completely indoors. The exhibit is original to the aquarium so the current owners had nothing to do with the design.

 

My question exactly!

 

I've seen the one in Denver and it's quite nice, much better than I expected.

 

I only recently visited the Aquarium after moving to this part of TX, and was pretty shocked. Most of the exhibits are decent, but there are no birds or mammals other than this poor solitary creature.

When i visited, the outdoor area was under construction still, with a decent sized area blocked off and lots of construction eqpt and porta potties. Good way from finished. But it looks like it will run al along a whole side of the main building at least. So comparable in size to exhibits I have seen at AZA zoos, and definitely a massive improvement over the current sit. While the current exhibit def had the kids enthralled, I heard while I was there many elderly cat owners expressing dismay at the sit and that an aquarium even had the poor creature.

 

These white tigers are leucistic bengal tigers. They would not survive in their natural habitat due to the fact that they are unable to camouflage in order to hunt their prey. Why an aquarium needs to be in possession of them, I could not tell you. However, I do know that white bengal tigers require care outside of their natural habitat.

 

Tigers like these don't exist in their natural habitat, there hasn't been one spotted in 60+ years.

 

They rarely exist in their natural habitat. You're absolutely right. They are being bred for captive purposes. I completely agree with your line of thinking. I just wanted to comment on why they would be in a facility.

 

On top of previous commentators: goodness gracious me .... Why darn have a tiger exhibit at all in an Aquarium?

Also: why not erase the thing alltogether and build something meaningful Aquarium-like instead!

 

This is true. The tigers need a lot of enrichment. It's time for them to be in a sanctuary.

 

Google "Tilman Fertita" who owns this restaurant (It's not an Aquarium, this is a food place with fish tanks around you which is simply called "The Aquarium").

Tilman owns a lot of restaurants that cater to a high-end experience crowd while at the same time cuts a lot of corners and is rumored to have mob ties. He also owns the Houston Rockets. He's fast, cheap, and looks for an experience that is skin deep if he can profit from it. He has a lot of tendencies and characteristics similar to a well known real estate executive who has been in the public eye for the last 4 years.

That should fill in what you need to know as to why there is a small tiger exhibit at this downtown food place.

 

Whatever your opinion of the owner is, it IS an aquarium with plenty of exhibits, more than many small aquariums, and it IS AZA accredited so the animals are receiving plenty of care.

 

I feel the question of why are tigers in an aquarium is very tiring. Aquariums are simply zoos that exhibit mostly aquatic or semi aquatic species. In fact, there are many fully terrestrial species held by many aquariums. Many are held behind the scenes as ambassador animals. Many birds in aquariums aren’t aquatic at all. So why are the tigers an issue? Because they are terrestrial? Tigers are some of the most aquatic big cats. Because they’re white tigers? These tigers aren’t breeding and are a relic of a different time for zoos when exhibiting the rarest and most exotic creatures solely to attract held higher precedent. Because of the enclosure size/all indoor enclosure? The aquarium is upgrading the space and adding a natural outdoor area up to standards of modern zoos. Better than many so called sanctuaries can offer. Plus this facility could be very useful holding space for non breeding Malayan or Sumatran tigers after these animals pass which the AZA and SSP desperately need.

There are many things to complain about this facility. The owner is one (at least at the Denver location they aren’t allowed to talk about palm oil or sustainable seafood sourcing because the owner/parent company doesn’t care and their restaurants are not sustainably sourced). But why tigers are at an aquarium is not really something I feel is worth the effort discussing.

 

Here is a link to my review of this facility from 2010!:

Review of Downtown Aquarium Houston [Downtown Aquarium Houston]

 

The new outdoor section of the tiger exhibit has now opened and it cost $4 million. At 3,500 square feet in size (0.08 of an acre) the enclosure appears to be far too small for modern standards. The link below contains a video showing the addition to the aquarium.

Downtown Aquarium tigers moved to bigger, better habitat