Houston Zoo Houston Zoo News 2020

It seems like 2 new (or old, but renovated) aviary have opened along with the pantanal, the Africa aviary and the wetland aviary.

 

Anyone here who has gotten a glimpse feel free to share your thoughts.

 

South America’s Pantanal, The Houston Zoo gives some details

 

A name can /will be just a name for most zoo visitors,but if there is real interpretation of what and where the Panatal is, then the interested zoo visitor will find a number of species that do not live within thousands of miles of the named region. Why things have always to have "sexy" names these days defeats me...whats wrong with "The Neotropics" for instance? That apart it looks fantastic...but im not surprised, CEO Lee Ehmke certainly knows how to design zoo exhibits.

 

South Americas pantanal looks amazing, possibly one of the greatest zoo exhibit in our country. The jaguar exhibit is massive, the plains habitat looks huge and the giant otter exhibit also looks fantastic. The only problems I have are
1. The macaw/curassow exhibit needs a bit more shade
2.the howler monkey/golden lion tamarin/agouti exhibit is a bit bare and needs a bit more foliage
And 3. The fish/river turtle/stingray exhibit looks fairly small.

But overall the pantanal looks fantastic and Houston’s best exhibit yet.

 

Just realised that I wrote Panatal(above) instead of Pantanal,mea culpa....no matter,at least I didnt say,as per Kevin the video presenter(Kevin Hodge ,General Curator?),that Baird`s Tapir is found in the Pantanal...which is my above point.The Jaguar exhibit looks fantastic, I love the way the building outside of the zoo pokes over the top of it all,and I dont mean that sarcastically - Im an urban zoo fan. The whole thing is a showstopper but even so,I would have preferred rather more smaller species,there are no amphibians or inverts for instance.

 

It is Kevin Hodge on the video,and in all fairness he does say that Smoky Jungle Frogs are coming soon(re.my point about smaller species).

 

What species of river turtle is in the Pantanal exhibit with the golden dorado and freshwater stingrays?

 

In earlier articles they mentioned that poison dart frogs are apart of the complex as well. There exhibit appears to be opposite to the emerald tree boa/smoky jungle frog exhibit and next to the anacondas. I also want to say that the 2 new aviarys are actually called the savanna & waterbird aviaries. The savanna aviary is made out of the old shoebill exhibit if I recall correctly.

 

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I haven’t seen that many photos of the zoos new anaconda exhibit that’s featured in the pantanal exhibit so here ya go

 

Is the exhibit indoors or outdoors? I can’t tell.

 

Is there anyone here that's experienced Houston weather in January and how it affects a zoo visit? The Pantanal is obviously what I'm eyeing to cover on my channel but I need every element and animal to be available for view.

 

Generally we have pretty mild weather here in Houston in January, average highs in the low 60s, lows in the high 40s to low 50s, but it's not uncommon at all for an occasional day in the 70s. If we do get a serious cold front (overnight lows no lower than the low 20s), it usually lasts no more than two nights (with daytime highs around 50) and then it warms back up pretty fast. January is one of our lowest months for rainfall, we actually get a lot of crisp, sunny weather. It's actually a great month to visit, especially if you want to escape nasty northern weather.

About a 50% chance I'm visiting the zoo this Sunday, I'll post a report with pics of the Pantanal exhibit if I do.

 

Same here! Especially because the seals need a new exhibit

 

OK, me more so since it will highlight the conservation work at the forefront Houston Zoo is doing within the Galapagos. It has been a long standing tradition thanks to vet and science teams.

 

I thought I might also add that the Houston Zoo offers free admission one Tuesday per month, so if you were able to arrange your visit with that day in January, it would save you some pocket change. Parking is always free. The zoo is also right down the street (walking distance) from the Museum of Natural Science, you might also hit up the Cockerell Butterfly Center while you're there. Parking is not free at the MSN, but you could leave your car at the zoo without any problem. Free Tuesdays, The Houston Zoo

 

Yeah, it would be one thing if the out-of-range species were "filler" species either in mixed enclosures or by themselves in smaller enclosures, but the Baird's tapir is a highlight of the Pantanal exhibit, despite being found nowhere near the Pantanal.

 

I’m personally excited for this new exhibit because of the possibility of new imported species from the Galápagos Islands.(but that’s very unlikely)

 

While Baird's tapirs are not, lowland tapirs are and are an important part of the ecosystem. Lowland tapirs are of a lesser conservation concern and are a phase-out species within the AZA, so it makes sense to use the more endangered species with a growing populations and SSP as a stand-in. You can still tell the same story even if the species is not 100% accurate. Would you rather there not been a tapir species at all than the wrong one? This is very similar to how Amur leopards are used as stand-ins for (most often) African leopards in African exhibits, or how the Cervid TAG was pushing for non-subspecific wapiti to be replaced with Bactrian deer in North American exhibits (unfortunately, this did not catch on. It would have been nice to see this species spread).

 

Whereas I do understand the rationale for AZA and its target species conservation breeding programs, I am no supporter of any phase out where almost over night the species of which individuals are still living in captivity become worthless and are (then) neglected to the point their biological needs (of which reproduction is one) are ignored forthwith.

Why in these instances does the policy phase out fail where individual of any such species on target phase out are then not transferred to other regional zoo associations where the species would be of benefit as well as a possible desired target species. You are effectively condemning these to functional extinction (which happens in nature only when only individuals of one sex remain and no options are available in the wilds to find mates of the opposite sex and fulfilling the biological life path to reproduce and care for the next generation(s).