Bringing the Zoo to You!

Each Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. CST, we host a Facebook Live to bring the Zoo to YOU! Join us for updates of what our furred, flippered, and feathered friends are up to and how our zookeepers are caring for them. Check out our Facebook Live Library below!

A giraffe’s tongue can be over 1.5 feet long once they’re fully grown! Get up close with our giraffe herd the next time you visit the Zoo during one of our daily giraffe feedings at 11am and 2pm.

Our North American porcupine, Ernie, was excited for this morning’s mini tour of our renovated entrance and new McGovern Plaza! This renovation is helping us make way for construction for the Galapagos Islands, which opens in 2022.

Our nearly eight-month-old Asian elephant, Nelson, reached a BIG milestone this week and now weighs 1,000 pounds! He’s been learning a lot of new training behaviors and will grow to be 10,000-15,000 pounds once he’s fully grown.

Thank you for joining us in our last Facebook Live of 2020, and for tuning in all year-long! We hope you enjoyed seeing Silas, our pygmy hippo, who made his public debut three weeks ago. You can see him in his exhibit across from the ankole cattle.

We’ll be back in January, Wednesdays at 11am! Happy holidays! 💚

Tingoora – Ting for short – may look like a dog, but she’s a dingo native to Australia. Unlike dogs, she’s unable to bark but can howl like a wolf, which is a distant relative of theirs.

Although cougars may look like a big cat, they’re actually classified as a small cat. They have the ability to purr, not roar, like cheetahs. If you missed today’s livestream with University of Houston mascot, Shasta, or want to watch it again, check it out online.

Curly is sloth goals. He sleeps anywhere between 18-20 hours a day! Linnaeus’s two-toed sloths are nocturnal and tend to have a great sense of smell.

Orangutans are the only great ape species that is primarily arboreal, meaning they spend most of their time in trees. This week, our newly renovated orangutan habitat reopened and features an additional viewing area for guests, as well as additional shade and naturalistic logs and vines for our orangutans to climb.

Every morning, our 11 elephants receive a bath from their zookeepers to ensure they’re healthy and to work on voluntary training behaviors, including checking their feet and mouths. Weighing over 7,000 lbs, it’s important for Baylor and our herd to have their feet regularly checked.

For millions of years, Komodo dragons have inhabited a small group of Indonesian islands, including Komodo – hence their name!

Belle and Willow, are gearing up for denning season, also known as torpor, where their body temperature and metabolic rate slow down. This means they are less interested in food and may not even need to drink water or pass waste from December-February. Black bears in Texas do not truly hibernate since it doesn’t get as cold in the winter here.

We’re still buzzing over today’s Facebook Live! Zookeeper Declan took us up close with a few of our Bug House residents to show you how cool bugs really are and why they aren’t as frightening as you may think.

We hope you enjoyed this morning’s walk with our goats, Finnegan, Alvin, and Shadow! No kidding, it was pretty cute!

We hope you enjoyed this morning’s tour of our South America’s Pantanal, which opens this Saturday! Be among the first to see a variety of animals right here at the Houston Zoo including giant rivers otters, a jaguar, and many more!

American alligators go into a state of hibernation — similar to bears — called brumation, which starts in October and goes until February or March.
https://youtu.be/ydqeLn7WfG8

Giraffe’s tongues are dark purple, which helps help protect them from the sun! It’s kind of like sunscreen for the tongue! 🦒 If you missed today’s livestream from the giraffe barn, or just want to watch the replay, check out our Facebook Live library presented by T-Mobile: bit.ly/3iXVe3h

Did you get to meet our giant river otters Dru and Max on this morning’s livestream? If you missed out, or just want to watch it again, check out our Facebook Live library presented by T-Mobile: bit.ly/2wHMYBw

Black throated monitors can be found in South Eastern Africa. Did you know that these species are also related to Komodo dragons? We hope you enjoyed today’s live stream!

Did you know that the Hellbender Salamander has folds on their skin that help them absorb oxygen underwater? Thanks for tuning into today’s live stream with Zookeeper Chris!

We hope you enjoyed learning more about Winston the pig, Levi the sheep, Fiesta the llama, Zamir the Zebu!

We hope you enjoyed this morning’s #WorldElephantDay live stream!

We hope you enjoyed this morning’s Peter Rabbit update!

Galapagos tortoises can grow to be about 150 pounds! We hope you enjoyed learning more about our tortoises this morning with Zookeeper Eddie. Watch the replay.

In the 1940s, there were around only 20 whooping cranes left in the wild. Thanks to conservation efforts, their population has increased and there are now over 850 whooping cranes. Watch this morning’s livestream with Zookeepers Tim and Stephanie.

See our sea lions participate in a recycling challenge and take the pledge to reduce your single-use plastics and help save sea lions in the wild!

Learn more about our North American river otters, Jack and Belle, and how you can help save them in the wild by making the switch to reusable water bottles and shopping bags.

Believe it or not, these mighty tenrecs are most closely related to elephants! Learn more about our tenrec trio from Children’s Zoo Supervisor Danielle.

Learn more about some of our smallest residents at the Zoo from Zookeeper Declan as we celebrate #InsectWeek!

Find out more about Curly, our Linnaeus’s two-toed sloth, from Zookeeper Tessa!

Learn more about two of our Ambassador snakes, William Snakespeare, our ball python, and Jolt, our Sonoran gopher snake, from Camp Supervisor Nick!

Check out our final daily Bringing the Zoo to You Facebook Live as Jackie, our director of public relations shares more about some of the modifications you can expect when you visit the Zoo and some of the items you can purchase at our gift shop.

Learn more about our herd from Rob, our elephant manager, and see the youngest member, Nelson, up close!

Hear from Jackie, our director of public relations, as she shares more about the Zoo’s reopening plans and answers frequently asked questions from viewers.

Check out a behind-the-scenes sneak peek of our upcoming South America’s Pantanal exhibit opening later this year.

Learn more about our southern white rhino, George, from Zookeeper John as gets a bath.

Houston Zoo at Home
Follow along with your kiddos at home and then complete the at home activities included below. We have activities for all ages!

View rhino activities

Learn more about our bachelor gorilla troop from Zookeeper Ashley as she does an ice pop toss to them as part of today’s enrichment.

Houston Zoo at Home
Follow along with your kiddos at home and then complete the at home activities included below. We have activities for all ages!

View gorillas activities

Good News Blog Series
Learn how we are helping save animals in the wild and how you can, too.

Bringing the Zoo to You

Giraffe Feeding Platform - January 20

Ernie at the McGovern Plaza - January 13

Nelson and the Elephant Herd - January 6

Silas, the Pygmy Hippo - December 16

Ambassador Animals with Camp Supervisor Nick - December 9

Shasta - December 2

Curly the Sloth - November 25

Orangutans - November 18

Elephant Bath with Baylor - November 11

Komodo Dragon - November 4

Black Bears - October 28

Not-So-Spooky Critters - October 21

Goat Tour - October 14

South America's Pantanal Preview - October 7

American Alligators - September 30

Masai Giraffes - September 23

Giant River Otters in Pantanal - September 16

Animal Ambassadors - September 9

Amphibians - September 2

Farm Animals - August 19

Elephants - August 12

Peter Rabbit - August 5

Galapagos Tortoise - July 29

Whooping Cranes - July 22

Sea Lions - July 15

River Otters - July 8

Tiny Tenrecs - July 1

Bug House - June 24

Curly the Sloth - June 17

Ambassador Snakes - June 10

Reopening Modifications - June 1

Baby Nelson - May 29

Reopening FAQs - May 28

South America's Pantanal - May 27

Rhino Bath - May 26

Western Lowland Gorillas - May 22

Schmidt's Red-Tailed Monkey - May 21

Pollinators - May 20

Sea Turtles Release - May 19

Masai Giraffes - May 18

Attwater's Prairie Chickens - May 15

Turtle Building - May 14

Guam Rail and Golden Lion Tamarins - May 13

Coquerel's Sifaka - May 12

Jaguars - May 11

Behind-the-Scenes Birds - May 8

Elephant Bath - May 7

Unusual Fish - May 6

Swap Shop - May 5

Ankole Cattle - May 4

Komodo Dragon - May 1

Lions - April 30

Houston Toads - April 29

North American Porcupine - April 28

Baird's Tapirs - April 27

Pollinators - April 24

Tenrec - April 23

Orangutans - April 22

Texas Wetlands - April 21

North American River Otters - April 20

Texas Snakes - April 17

Meerkats - April 16

Flamingos - April 15

Coastal Pool - April 14

Okapi - April 13

Asian Small-Clawed Otters - April 10

Vet Clinic - April 9

Mole Rats - April 8

White Rhinos - April 7

Galapagos Tortoises - April 6

Bug House - April 3

Cougars - April 1

Green-winged Macaw - March 31

Red Pandas - March 30

Clouded Leopards - March 27

Sea Lions - March 26

Whooping Cranes - March 25

Chimpanzees - March 24

Banded Mongoose - March 23