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Give a Gift That's Wild This Year!
Holiday Season Gifts
Give the gift of a membership to your family or friends and give them the opportunity to visit The African Forest as often as they would like for one full year!
Make the holiday season naturally wild when you do your shopping at the Houston Zoo. Whether you’re shopping for a family member, friend, teacher, or co-worker, when you choose a cuddly Adopt an Animal package, a gift membership, a behind-the-scenes tour, or an unforgettable animal painting experience, they’ll love their unique gift. And, you’ll be giving twice – to your gift recipient and to the Houston Zoo.
The Zoo’s special holiday offers are valid until December 31, 2011 and may not be combined with any other offer. Shop in person, by phone or online. Orders take up to 7 business days to process, so shop early! Proceeds directly benefit the Houston Zoo and the care of our amazing animals.
Gift Memberships
This holiday season, what will you buy for your dad, teacher, that favorite aunt who really loves nature, or your hard-to-buy-for grandmother? We have the solution…
A Houston Zoo membership is a gift that keeps on giving all year long. Being a member, you know the great benefits of having a membership. So why not give a gift that will provide a year’s worth of memories?
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Contact 713-533-6529 to order by phone.
Help Give the Gift of Grub
18 million. That’s the number of crickets the Houston Zoo goes through to provide our frogs, toads, chameleons, geckos and other animals with their favorite “fast food” year round.
80,000. We use this many heads of lettuce annually to stock an endless salad bar for our animals, with giraffes being our #1 customer.
10,660. That’s how many bales of hay our animals munch each year, with the Biggest Muncher Award going to our elephants who munch 15 bales a day.
Two. The number of times your donation will count this year when you Give the Gift of Grub to help feed the Zoo’s more than 6,000 animal residents!
Thanks to a generous matching gift challenge by TXU Energy, every dollar you donate now through December 31 will be DOUBLED.*
*Total matches capped at $25,000
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Adopt an Animal
Make your holiday shopping easy!
These gifts are fun and educational and help care for your adopted animal, as well as support important education and conservation programs at the Houston Zoo.
For more information on all animals available for adoption or to purchase online, visit www.houstonzoo.org/adopt.
Adopt an Animal on-line or onsite this holiday season.
Contact 713-533-6529 for more information.
Animal Paintings
This is truly the gift for the person who has everything. Here’s an opportunity to own a truly unique masterpiece. Give the animal lover in your life their very own animal painting by one of our resident artists. Animal Paintings are $250.
Click here for more details.
Contact 713-533-6550 for more information.
Buy a Brick
This year, give a gift that makes a statement! Surprise the animal lover in your life with their very own personalized brick paver, engraved with your special message and laid in the front entry of the Houston Zoo! An engraved brick is a truly unique and lasting way to recognize your family, friends, and love for the Zoo.
Your brick purchase is also a fully tax-deductible gift to the Zoo, which helps to provide our animal residents with nutritious meals and caring keepers all year 'round!
NEW! Printable brick paver gift certificates are now available for instant download!
Gifts that Give Back
It all starts at home. But these homes are in villages and communities surrounding some of the world's most exotic wildlife habitat. Far from large cities, villagers create works of art while balancing their traditional way of living. These communities have the world’s most precious wildlife, but little running water or electricity, and people have traditionally made their living through subsistence agriculture and ranching.
The people and wildlife of these regions depend on their environment for their livelihoods. By supporting the production of these items, we work with farmers, herders, and ranchers to ἀnd ways for them to protect their traditional way of life and families – without resorting to poaching. Crafted by villagers and nomadic people of these countries, the new goods are colorful and well-made.
Retail of community crafts at the Houston Zoo provides opportunities to raise signiἀcant funds for our conservation partners, as well as increase awareness and offer tools to help with conservation actions and programs in these range countries. Visit the Houston Zoo gift shop to purchase merchandise that supports our various conservation efforts.
Behind-the-Scenes Tours
Picture yourself face to face with a mandrill, feeding the meerkat mob, or getting a kiss from a sea lion. These are just a few of the exciting things that could happen on a Behind the Scenes Tour at the Houston Zoo. Join us as you take an unforgettable look at the Zoo from the inside out!
Cat Training Window
Imagine being face to face with a lion…as she licks the milk you squirt into her mouth or takes the meat you offer her from the training stick! This personal unforgettable experience is available Wednesday and Sunday mornings at 8 AM. Click here!
Vet for a Day
Get ready to spend an exciting morning checking up on the Zoo’s animal residents during this exclusive behind the scenes experience. Shadow one of Houston’s busiest veterinarians as they make their rounds of the Zoo. Our four veterinarians are responsible for the health and well-being of a diverse collection of animals – from the smallest of the amphibians to the gigantic elephants and everything in between! Learn more!
Contact 713-533-6550 for more information on Behind-the-Scenes Tours.
Will Your Employer Match Your Membership Donation?
Did you know you may be able to double or even triple your membership contribution at no cost to you? And it is as easy as 1 – 2 – 3! Many employers will match your current membership contribution. The matching gift does not change your membership level but the additional gift is a huge help to the Zoo.
Contact your Human Resources Department directly in order to find out if your employer has a matching gifts program.
1. Obtain the form from your HR department.
2. Fill out the form and send it to the Zoo along with your gift
3. Feel great knowing you helped your Zoo even more.
Your membership payment is Tax Deductible!
If you have the Individual, Family, Family Plus, Grandparent or Supporting level membership, the fair market value of your benefits is not substantial and therefore the entire amount you paid is tax deductible.
If you have the Sustaining level membership, the fair market value of your benefits is $53 leaving a total of $197 that is tax deductible.
If you have a Conservator level membership, the fair market value of your benefits is $153 leaving a total of $347 that is tax deductible.
