Red, White & Zoo – Celebrating America’s 250th at Houston Zoo

Meet Sally and Mae, two eagles who each survived the kind of injury that changes everything. Sally was found in Oklahoma, grounded by a wing that would never let her fly again. Mae came to us after Winter Storm Uri left her with a severe fracture, discovered by a game warden in Huxley, TX. Both were unreleasable. Both needed a home. We said yes.

Sally is named for astronaut Sally Ride. Mae honors Mae Jemison, the first Black woman in space. These two have more in common with their namesakes than a name. Their species nearly disappeared from North America in the 20th century before decades of conservation work brought them back. Now the duo spends their days together in the Texas Wetlands, ruling their habitat with the quiet confidence you’d expect from birds named after astronauts. Come meet them and decide for yourself who’s in charge.

When two orphaned cougar cubs needed a home, Washington State Fish & Wildlife Services made a call to Houston. Shasta VII and Louie were just weeks old. From the start, Shasta was the steady one, calmer and more confident, often curling up to nap with a paw draped over his little brother. Louie, for his part, has always kept things interesting.

Shasta carries a name with deep roots in this city. As the official living mascot of the University of Houston, the cougar has represented Cougar pride here for generations, and that partnership lives right inside the Zoo. These two boys are fully Houston now. This Fourth of July, come see the wildlife that calls our city home.

Belle came to us from California in 2013, orphaned and used to being fed by people near a local restaurant. U.S. Fish and Wildlife rescued her and asked if we could give her a home. Claud came to us from Reno, Nevada, after wildlife officers found him getting a little too comfortable around campsites. The Nevada Department of Wildlife made the same call.

Two bears from the American West, now very much at home in Houston. Claud took about five minutes to claim every pool, waterfall, and climbing structure in the Hamill Foundation Black Bear habitat as his own. Belle remains unbothered and mostly napping. Come find them across from the lions and let us know which one you relate to more.

Don’t let the stillness fool you. Snap and Pop are paying attention to everything. They live in the Kathrine G. McGovern Texas Wetlands alongside bald eagles and whooping cranes, three Texas species that all came back from the brink after federal and state protections gave them a fighting chance. The American alligator was listed as endangered in Texas in 1969, recovered fully, and was delisted by 1985. Today, they are so much a part of Texas waterways that it’s hard to imagine our state without them. Snap and Pop are a reminder of what we almost lost, and what we get to keep.