Bringing the Zoo to You – 2025

Vultures are considered the “clean-up” crew of the environment! Their stomach acid is so strong, it can kill most viruses and bacteria. Not only does it help with digesting their food, but they also remove sources of disease that could harm other animals. Stop by the Fondren Foundation Birds of the World exhibit and see our committee during your next Zoo visit.

Our black bear Belle got her grub on during this week’s Facebook Live. Our incredible Animation Nutrition team preps our diets daily for the 5,000 animals that live at our Zoo. You can help support the care and feeding of our animals by giving the Gift of Grub this holiday season.

Your Zoo visit helps support our Asian elephant herd and their counterparts in the wild. We provide funds for elephant conservationist, Dr. Farina Othman and her team in Borneo, to put tracking collars on wild elephants. The collars are used to follow wild elephants, collecting valuable movement data that is used to inform future protection for the elephant families as they travel through the forests.

Watch a replay of this week’s Facebook Live to see our own herd up close, including Kirby, who turns one next Sat, Nov. 15. She now weighs about 1,300 pounds, which is four times the size she was at birth.

Just by visiting the Zoo, you are helping us save tapirs in the wild. Through our conservation partnerships, the Houston Zoo supports efforts to protect all four tapir species around the world — from safeguarding habitats to making busy roads in Brazil’s Pantanal safer for wildlife to cross.

Learn more about out tapir duo, Moli and Norah, along with the other five species who reside in our mixed species habitat in South America’s Pantanal on this week’s Facebook Live.

Pumpkin party with a purpose! Our Galápagos tortoises got into the Zoo Boo spirit with pumpkin enrichment, which is not only tasty but is also a great for their jaw and curiosity.

Every time you visit the Zoo, you help save their tortoise counterparts in the Galápagos Islands. A portion of every ticket supports teens in the Galápagos protecting tortoises from car strikes and other dangers.

Last week we celebrated World Gorilla Day at the Zoo! You can help save gorillas and other wildlife by recycling your old cellphones and handheld devices right here at the Zoo. Materials like tantalum are found in these electronics and can be repurposed in new devices, reducing the demand for this material being mined in gorilla habitats. To recycle your electronics at the Zoo, you can bring them to the Zoo’s entrance, and our staff will direct you to our recycling bin.

Learn more about our wildlife-saving efforts on last week’s Facebook Live with Primates Keeper Kayla and Community Outreach Coordinator Daniel.

Jaguars are one of the few cats that like to swim. They are native to the Americas and once roamed as far north as Oklahoma and Colorado. Today, we’re helping conserve jaguar populations and their habitats by educating and helping fund ecotourism in the Pantanal region –a safe haven for jaguars – in South America.

During your next visit, you may spot Rojo and Vida going for swim in their stream. Jaguars have a unique hunting technique – they’ll use their tail to lure and attract fish. On this week’s Facebook Live, their animal care team provided them with fish and an ice pop to encourage foraging and problem-solving skills.

Every day, our colony of nine sea lions receive a daily medical check from their animal care team, looking at their flippers, back, belly, mouth, and eyes. Our sea lions voluntarily participate in their own medical care to ensure they are healthy. In addition to physical care, they also learn novel behaviors to help stimulate their mind. On this week’s Facebook Live, watch Cali and Gaia participate in a training session. Gaia also works on a new behavior called porpoising; it’s a naturally occurring behavior sea lions do in the wild where they repeatedly jump out of the water to increase swimming speed.

August is Asian Elephant Awareness Month! 🐘 On this week’s Facebook Live, we highlighted our Asian elephant herd and the incredible work we’re doing right here in Houston to save elephants, as well as with our conservation partners in Borneo. Watch this week’s livestream to learn more from Keeper Stephanie.

We had a roaring good time celebrating International Tiger Day, and Berani our Malayan tiger was truly the mane event! 🐯 Make sure to visit us tomorrow for our Tiger Day celebrations. Highlights will include bonus keeper chats, leap like a tiger activity, and more.

Ever wonder how our Galápagos tortoises stay cool during warmer temps? Their day includes mud baths, mist showers, and 50 lbs of fresh produce, 3x a week! 🐢💦 Their insulated shells also help keep temps stable in between spa sessions.

Our South American wetlands is home to a variety of birds – from waterfowl and flamingos to white ibis and roseate spoonbills. Stop by to see our diverse and functioning ecosystem in The Fondren Foundation Birds of the World. 

The longest day of the year just so happens to coincide with World Giraffe Day! 🦒 Celebrate the tallest animal in the world at the Zoo tomorrow. Our Hoofstock team has a variety of activities planned, plus you can feed our giraffes at the giraffe feeding platform at 11am and 2pm.

Can you see the resemblance? 🤔 Denver, our blue-and-gold macaw, is a modern-day descendant of the Herrerasaurus that lived during the Triassic period. It’s a prehistoric reptile that used to be bipedal and its arms evolved to be wings. Nerd out on more dino facts and get a sneak peek of TXU Energy presents Jurassic Giants open now through Sept. 1 in this week’s livestream.

Two of our California sea lions, Jonah and Calypso joined us on this week’s Facebook Live to kick off Memorial Day weekend! Calypso turns 22 this Sunday while Jonah turns 29 on June 15. A common misconception our animal care team gets is confusing sea lions with seals. They are cousins, but a few key differences with sea lions are:

💙 Have large front flippers – a third of their overall body size
💙 Have small ear flaps that is an adaption to help them hear better on land
💙 Very agile on land and have a rotating hind hip bone to help climb rocks and to walk on all fours

Learn more about our flippered friends on this week’s livestream.

We spent our morning with our bachelor elephants inside their pool!

This month we are celebrating some of our herd members birthday’s including Methai (turning 57), Tucker (turning 20), Nelson (turning 5), and Teddy (turning 4!) Stop by this month and visit our McNair Asian Elephant Habitat to wish them a happy birthday!

During your next Zoo visit, be sure to check out our newest space, Wildlife Workshop, near the John P. McGovern Children’s Zoo. The former Swap Shop has been reimagined into a physical space for all ages where you can collaborate, learn, and celebrate wildlife-saving behaviors.

Don’t miss out on Camp Zoofari this summer! Our Camp team took over this morning’s Facebook Live and shared more info on the exclusive benefits of our summer program like meeting ambassador animals, behind the scenes experiences, and more. Save your kiddo’s spot here!

Rojo has grown leaps and bounds since he was born on November 6! He’s the second jaguar cub born in three years at an AZA facility, so he’s a very special little (big) guy. Rojo has been exploring his new habitat with mom, Vida, for the past three weeks and has made significant strides when it comes to training, even voluntarily receiving his recent set of vaccines.

Today we went up close with our vultures inside of our African Savanna in the Fondren Foundation Birds of the World exhibit. Vultures are known to be scavengers and are different from buzzards who are known to be hunters. Make a plan to visit our vultures and stop by to see TXU Energy presents Jurassic Giants this Spring Break.

Our newest resident Ravioli can be often found swimming and exploring his exhibit!! You can see him and our other North American River otter, Belle, inside of the John P. McGovern Children’s Zoo.

Inside our Reptile & Amphibian House we house a variety of rattlesnakes, including western diamondback rattlesnakes, which are one of the largest rattlesnakes native to North America.

Rattlesnakes have one of the fastest acting muscles in the animal kingdom. They have a specialized tail muscle known as a “shaker” muscle and enables that classic rattle, going off about 50x a second. Learn more from Herpetology Supervisor Audrey.

#YearoftheSnake

Let’s hear it for Kirby! This cutie is now 2.5 months old, weighing in at 539 pounds. Kirby is an inquisitive elephant and has been hitting milestones on nursing, using her trunk, receiving baths, and exploring her surroundings. The best time of day to see Kirby is between 10am-2pm. Get your Kirby fix during your next visit. She’s usually with mom Shanti, Methai, and Winnie.