Houston Zoo Houston Zoo News 2020

The zoo has posted their 2020 agenda on their website: Building the Future, The Houston Zoo

• Complete: The Red Pandas have moved to the former Wombat/Aardvark exhibit connected to the bug house in the children's zoo.I'm hopeful this is temporary, as it's much smaller than their former exhibit.
• January: Construction for a new pathway in-front of the Wortham World of Primaries will begin
• January: The main gift shop will close for renovation. A temporary gift shop will open in a tent.
• February: The Fisher Bird Garden will permanently close
• February: The Reptile house will close temporarily so new utility lines can be laid for the Galapagos expansion
• Late March: The macaw Cafe will permanently close
• Spring: The Kipp Aquarium will permanently close. :-(
• Mid-May: The main entrance will close and a temporary entrance will be created due to Galapagos construction
• June - September: Orangutans will undergo a renovation
• Summer: Pantanal Opens

 

Thanks for the updates and there are certainly a few surprises on that list. The Kipp Aquarium was renovated at a cost of $500,000 and reopened in 2016 after almost a year of construction. Now the zoo is going to close the Kipp Aquarium permanently and so that's a total shock. Also, the Fisher Bird Garden dates from the 1990s and it wasn't as if it was a very old part of the zoo. Looking at the big picture, Houston Zoo is reinventing itself and so a couple of exhibit casualties will be forgotten once all of the shiny new habitats are open to the public.

 

Unfortunately the Fisher Bird Garden was "not built right the first time" and used godawful wood so its lifespan was seriously compromised. In fact, it was actually worse for animal management than the older bird exhibits from the 50s. Also, the area did not fit with the Houston Zoo's new vision of exhibits that directly connect to the zoo's robust field conservation efforts. The renovation of the aquarium also predated the strategic planning process. Similarly, wombats were likely phased out as Australia does not fit into the zoo's conservation plan.

Few zoos in the world have an immediate future as bright as Houston with a commitment to conservation culture and action second to none, lots of philanthropic dollars and a wave of top-notch exhibits opening up.

 

YouTube clip about the construction of the Pantanal :

 

Is there a species list for this new exhibit? Particularly reptiles?

 

Very impressed with the progress the zoo has been making and the momentum as well.
Would anyone happen to know if any of the female elephants are pregnant?

 

So jaguars and giant otters together ?

 

Within different habitats, but said habitats would be designed so jaguars would be looking down on the otters.

 

Conveniently the zoo just announced that Shanti is due with a baby this spring!

Houston Zoo Elephant Herd Growing By One, The Houston Zoo

 

Shanti's really done her part to save the species. Lol. And Thailand must be trying to save the species too, because he clearly got right to work after Joy was born! In those photos, Shanti looks so much like her mother Bozie!

 

Great news!!! Houston Zoo is the best in North America for breeding Asian elephants along with ALS. I wonder if it would be good to get a second bull to have. Tupelo should already have a calf.

 

Lol. I agree they're great, and their yards would be even fuller if they hadn't been hit so hard by EEHV. However, we must be fair and credit ALS who has a herd of 17, with 16 females, 6 under age 6! And I think St. Louis and OKC might want to be honored a bit too, as well as Syracuse....

Yes, Houston needs at least one new bull who can step right in. Not only does Tupelo need a stud, Thailand is very much at the upper limits of male life expectancy at 56. It's amazing to see him doing so well--in every way--but the AZA should be making provisions now to send a proven stud who could breed everyone. How about a trade of young bulls, Duncan or Baylor for Kandula? None are proven, but they could always AI with two sets of sperm (Thailand and Kandula and Rex and Duncan or Baylor), as seems to have become protocol anyway, until the young bulls are settled.

 

Not really worth it's own thread, but Houston is getting another aquarium, in the form of an independent seaquest/sea life place called Houston Interactive Aquarium & Animal Adventure. The website promises ray and shark touching, plus lemur and sloth interactions, feeding alligators, and a large walk-through aviary. They have a lot of photos on their facebook, maybe they've been doing private field trips or something?
Houston Aquarium and Animal Adventure

 

A baby Schmidt's Red-Tailed monkey has been born.

Houston Zoo welcomes baby monkey named Peter Rabbit

 

A male Asian elephant calf was born May 12:

Nelson was born at 6:30 a.m. to 29-year-old Asian elephant Shanti after a short labor, the zoo said. He weighed a whopping 326 pounds at birth!

Nelson is Shanti’s sixth calf and he has three siblings at the Houston zoo — 10-year-old Baylor, 6-year-old Duncan and 2-year-old Joy.

The zoo’s elephant herd is now 11-strong with five males and six females.

Read the full article here: Meet Nelson, the sweet elephant calf born Tuesday at Houston Zoo

 

Great! I great praise from the team of veterinarians at the zoo, who reacted quickly and saved his life.

 

U know, The Houston zoo has one of the best care for Asian elephants In the us in my opinion. I still remembered they saved Joys life after she Caught EEHV and the zoo kept it from spreading throughout the entire herd. They saved Nelson’s life which is great news as we need all the Asian elephants we can get to be born in zoos in the US. And the zoo also has several fairly large yards for their elephants in my mind. The Houston zoo overall is a great zoo but what makes it exceptional Is the quality of care the Asian elephants received and I think it’s one of the best zoos for an Asian elephant alongside Denver and Los Angeles Zoos elephant exhibits. Glad to see another elephant calf thriving in the zoos ever growing elephant herd

 

Can anyone tell me how many gorillas the zoo has? I have sources saying 9, and some saying saying 7.

 

I believe Houston has 9 (6.3) gorillas:

0.1, Binti - October 2, 1974 - Trib x Dolly

1.0, Chaka - July 22, 1984 - John x Samantha

0.1, Angel - July 31, 1987 - Chris x Sandy

0.1, Holli - November 10, 1989 - Kongo x Huerfanita

1.0, Mike - December 24, 1991 - Memba x Jessica

1.0, Ajari - October 30, 2000 - Paul Donn x Ione

1.0, Henry - May 23, 2010 - Taz x Kuchi

1.0, Tracy James - January 15, 2012 - Moja x Martha

1.0, Leom - February 14, 2013 - BomBom x Kelele

 

Nelson is out with the herd right now and you can see him on the webcam if you're lucky!