Houston Zoo Houston Zoo News 2021

You took fantastic photos of the exhibit!

 

It'a good to see that the Anaconda crawl space is now open. As a Houstonian myself, I enjoy the Pantanal exhibit very much. I noticed in the Macaw/Curassow exhibit I have also seen a species of Troupial a few times.

 

Thank you! It was actually a crowded day at the zoo but I was first one to the exhibit in the morning so I was lucky to capture it without people blocking my shots! I backtracked a little later to pick up some more animal closeups, although the jaguar eluded me.

 

How do you feel about bronze animal sculptures in the Pantanal and Texas wetland exhibits?

I always feel that a zoo should show live animals, not animal sculptures. But they can show species which are either impossible to get or would hide and be unattractive. They might also give conservation some posh or esteem status.

BTW, I only noticed on your photo that the entry sign has fake ovenbird mud-nests on it.

 

Sculptures of animals enable visitors to get a visceral experience of the size of animals displayed. While, more often than not, children see them as playground equipment and adults see them as Instgram opps, they do serve to bring the visitor empathetically closer to the animals.

 

Thanks! This kind of sculptures is not common in Europe.

This suggests that such sculptures could be more photographable or instagrammable - for example built so that a child can sit on one.

 

You took photos of everything, they're so helpful. Houston had been slipping down by "need to visit asap" list but it's back up there now

Regarding the statues, I always love seeing art in zoos.

 

This is just a hunch, but I suspect Tess might finally be due. I was watching the webcam for a good amount of time today and Tess was noticeably absent, as well as Tilly.

Tupelo and Winnie were out with Nelson, Joy, Shanti, and Methai. Fingers crossed that we'll hear some good news within the next couple of days. If you subscribe to the zoo, watch your emails. Generally, that's where the news will come from first. If she went into labor today, it's likely we'll hear something tomorrow.

She could also have been off camera for something else too, but it's a sign to look for. So, fingers crossed that it's finally time! The timing is just a bit suspicious.

 

Just a quick follow-up. Tess was back out in the yard yesterday, along with Tilly, and is out again today. The good news is that she still is looking pregnant, so it must have been a false alarm.

Given that they had them both inside on Friday and Saturday though, suggests that it could be any time. Here's hoping that she has a flawless delivery and we get yet another healthy baby elephant at the zoo.

 

Well, whaddya know!

 

Goodness, I even asked. They're very sneaky. They had me going, I was so certain on Friday, haha.

And - a boy! Glad to see another from Tess!

 

Excellent News! 1st bull offspring for Thai & Tess.

 

A Flamingo Terrace is opening Summer 2021.

Zoo map link:
https://s28164.pcdn.co/files/GateMap2021.05_webpage.jpg

 

What is it? I know its on the site of the former bird house? Is it a bird garden as they planned or just a path and seating area?

 

I haven't came across any descriptions on it but by the looks of the name and area that it's in it looks like a path/seating area. A nice looking area that leads guests to the flamingo and hopefully future bird area.

People on social media were always confused to where the flamingo exhibit was because the zoo wasn't giving guests a map when they walk in.

 

If it is just a seating area: Put. The birdhouse. Back.

 

Visited the other day and construction for Flamingo Terrace was ongoing. It appears to be just a walkway, although most definitely a short term addition to help with visitor circulation of the area. The bird house from photos and the zoos assessment was rapidly aging so I understand removing it although it is sad to see the current state of the on-show bird collection.

Construction on Galapagos next door has also gone vertical. I think I now understand why the bird garden hasn't opened as was expected. Given that its next to the Galapagos construction, which features a massive crane I imagine it may be both dangerous to visitors and greatly disturbing to the birds to open the bird garden before Galapagos. Its just my intuition but I can imagine the phasing now is to construct and open the bird garden after Galapagos opens or is nearly complete in Fall 2022.


You can see the proposed bird garden just above the tortoise exhibit. Note how there is maybe only 20 feet between the developments.

 

Nice to see you managed to visit Houston.

 

It was a long day trip (6 hours of driving) and Houston summers are brutal like 100 degrees (38 C), but it was great to visit the zoo and see both baby elephants. I will be posting a review in the coming days.

 

News on how the Houston zoo is helping to conserve the St Vincent Amazon parrot in the aftermath of the erruption of La Soufrière volcano on the Caribbean island of St Vincent:

How the Houston Zoo helped Caribbean parrots survive a volcano