Capital of Texas Zoo Capital Of Texas Zoo news

The small, privately-owned Capital of Texas Zoo is opening a pair of new exhibits in 2022. Each will be 15,000 sq. ft. in size (about a third of an acre) and the complex will be called the 'Trautwein Carnivore Habitats'. One exhibit will be for African Lions, while the other will be for Asiatic Black Bears.
 
What does "Trautwein" mean? Is it a local Indian name or simply the sponsor of the exhibits?
 
What does "Trautwein" mean? Is it a local Indian name or simply the sponsor of the exhibits?

I don't know, but I'm guessing that the name (which sounds German) is from the family sponsoring the new exhibits.
 
I’m glad this zoo is finally upgraded some of their exhibits! From looking at photos in the gallery, many of the exhibits range from subpar, to bad, to downright awful. I would hope that many of the other not-so-great exhibits are upgraded in due time.
 
What does "Trautwein" mean? Is it a local Indian name or simply the sponsor of the exhibits?
It's a family name. Jasen Trautwein is their veterinary consultant and is also on their board, and two of his children are Junior Keepers at the zoo.

The Trautwein family donated the majority of the funds for the new exhibits. A Facebook post says the total is about $300,000 and states that the enclosure for the Asiatic Black Bears is the largest in the USA and that the lion enclosure is in the top five largest in the USA.
 
A facebook post in another Zoo group said the new lion and bear habitats are hoping to be completed by June 1st. They will feature "natural trees and vegetation, big pool for the bears, dead trees arranged to climb on, big dirt hills to sit on."
 
Went here a few days ago, their enclosures seem to largely have changed since last updated here, can post the species list I recorded if needed. Their patas monkey recently had a baby and seemed to be doing well. The zoo was also still under construction in parts, likely for the bears and lions.
 
Went here a few days ago, their enclosures seem to largely have changed since last updated here, can post the species list I recorded if needed. Their patas monkey recently had a baby and seemed to be doing well. The zoo was also still under construction in parts, likely for the bears and lions.
Who can say no to a species list :)
I'm curious to know if the Fanaloka and Bearded Pig are still around, and if theres any other major rarities at this very obscure zoo.
 
Who can say no to a species list :)
I'm curious to know if the Fanaloka and Bearded Pig are still around, and if theres any other major rarities at this very obscure zoo.

Sure thing!

Species List, basing some of this off the old species list since a lot are still there and I wasn't able to ask anyone questions, saw the ticketer and no one else while there

What I saw:
~Bovids~
Domestic Goat
Nilgai (Females only)
Blackbuck (Female only)

~Deer~
Fallow Deer (Females only)
Axis Deer (Females only)

~Camelids~
Dromedary/Arabian Camel
Guanaco

~Hippos~
They still have Tank

~Pigs~
Vietnam potbelly pig
Wild boar

~Equids~
Nubian Wild Ass

~Caniform Carnivorans~
Asiatic Black Bear
Dingo
South American Coati
River Otters (I couldn't get a good look at them but either NA Rivers or Asian Small Clawed)

~Feliform Carnivorans~
Serval
Lions

~Rodents~
Black Tailed Prairie Dogs (They are still just free roaming around the entire zoo, saw them everywhere)
Guinea Pigs
~Bats~
Egyptian Fruit Bats (I THINK I saw them, there was what seemed to be a bat house and I saw some things flying in there, but was hard to be sure)

~Primates~
Ringtail Lemur
Brown Lemur
Patas Monkey
Vervet Monkey

~Marsupial~
Bennet's Wallaby

~Parrots~
Blue and Gold Macaw
Bluethroat Macaw
Budgies
African Grey
Military Macaw
Sun Conure
Umbrella Cockatoo
Yellow-naped Amazon
Citron Cockatoo
Monk Parakeet
Scarlet Macaw
(There might have been more, there were a LOT of parrots)

~Ground Birds~
Indian Peafowl
Chickens
Great Curassow
Helmeted Guineafowl
Turkey (not ocellated just don't know if it was wild or domestic)
Golden Pheasant
Silver Pheasant
(There were two birds I couldn't ID because I just do not know birds that well but the pictures I have of them, they just don't appear in them)
Unlabeled random(?) chicks in a tank at the entrance by ticketing

~Other Birds~
Eurasian Eagle Owl
Emu

~Reptiles Minus Birds~
Nile Crocodile (Labeled as from Madagascar)
A couple of locally found rattlesnakes
Red-eared Sliders
A black turtle I am not sure of the species of
Sulcata Tortoises
Beared Dragon (in the enclosure labeled for the Argentine Tegu)
An iguana I am unsure of the species

Animals With Signage I Did NOT See

Fanaloka, someone mentioned early into the thread that they are older and likely asleep, still seems to be the same enclosure since last update too. Likely asleep when I was there

Bornean Bearded Pig, I looked for them but couldn't find them anywhere, enclosure with their labels had the wild boar, so likely gone

Asiatic Leopard and White Bengal Tiger, it was a hot day they were likely in their shelters

Argentine Tegu, like I said housed a bearded dragon

Morelet's Crocodile and Common Snapping Turtle, no idea (maybe off exhibit, but not sure)

Red-fronted Lemur, probably also in its shelter

The other mentioned animals had no signage, so jungle cat is likely gone, in fact where I think it used to be is now a second serval exhibit. Where it seems the palm civets used to be is also empty now with a stone reading "Kimmy"

Website still shows kinkajou, maras, and muntjac but I didn't see any there. Place is pretty small, and as I said very under construction right now as well.
 
Sure thing!

Species List, basing some of this off the old species list since a lot are still there and I wasn't able to ask anyone questions, saw the ticketer and no one else while there

What I saw:
~Bovids~
Domestic Goat
Nilgai (Females only)
Blackbuck (Female only)

~Deer~
Fallow Deer (Females only)
Axis Deer (Females only)

~Camelids~
Dromedary/Arabian Camel
Guanaco

~Hippos~
They still have Tank

~Pigs~
Vietnam potbelly pig
Wild boar

~Equids~
Nubian Wild Ass

~Caniform Carnivorans~
Asiatic Black Bear
Dingo
South American Coati
River Otters (I couldn't get a good look at them but either NA Rivers or Asian Small Clawed)

~Feliform Carnivorans~
Serval
Lions

~Rodents~
Black Tailed Prairie Dogs (They are still just free roaming around the entire zoo, saw them everywhere)
Guinea Pigs
~Bats~
Egyptian Fruit Bats (I THINK I saw them, there was what seemed to be a bat house and I saw some things flying in there, but was hard to be sure)

~Primates~
Ringtail Lemur
Brown Lemur
Patas Monkey
Vervet Monkey

~Marsupial~
Bennet's Wallaby

~Parrots~
Blue and Gold Macaw
Bluethroat Macaw
Budgies
African Grey
Military Macaw
Sun Conure
Umbrella Cockatoo
Yellow-naped Amazon
Citron Cockatoo
Monk Parakeet
Scarlet Macaw
(There might have been more, there were a LOT of parrots)

~Ground Birds~
Indian Peafowl
Chickens
Great Curassow
Helmeted Guineafowl
Turkey (not ocellated just don't know if it was wild or domestic)
Golden Pheasant
Silver Pheasant
(There were two birds I couldn't ID because I just do not know birds that well but the pictures I have of them, they just don't appear in them)
Unlabeled random(?) chicks in a tank at the entrance by ticketing

~Other Birds~
Eurasian Eagle Owl
Emu

~Reptiles Minus Birds~
Nile Crocodile (Labeled as from Madagascar)
A couple of locally found rattlesnakes
Red-eared Sliders
A black turtle I am not sure of the species of
Sulcata Tortoises
Beared Dragon (in the enclosure labeled for the Argentine Tegu)
An iguana I am unsure of the species

Animals With Signage I Did NOT See

Fanaloka, someone mentioned early into the thread that they are older and likely asleep, still seems to be the same enclosure since last update too. Likely asleep when I was there

Bornean Bearded Pig, I looked for them but couldn't find them anywhere, enclosure with their labels had the wild boar, so likely gone

Asiatic Leopard and White Bengal Tiger, it was a hot day they were likely in their shelters

Argentine Tegu, like I said housed a bearded dragon

Morelet's Crocodile and Common Snapping Turtle, no idea (maybe off exhibit, but not sure)

Red-fronted Lemur, probably also in its shelter

The other mentioned animals had no signage, so jungle cat is likely gone, in fact where I think it used to be is now a second serval exhibit. Where it seems the palm civets used to be is also empty now with a stone reading "Kimmy"

Website still shows kinkajou, maras, and muntjac but I didn't see any there. Place is pretty small, and as I said very under construction right now as well.
Thank you.

Shame about the Bearded Pig, I think the only place left that has them is some small facility in Pennsylvania called Wild World of Animals, and who knows if thats even true anymore.
This place also had an African Civet at one point, did you see any signs for it?
With the possible exception of Fanaloka, it seems all the rarities are gone from this one.
 
~Caniform Carnivorans~
Asiatic Black Bear
Dingo
South American Coati
River Otters (I couldn't get a good look at them but either NA Rivers or Asian Small Clawed)

Capital of Texas Zoo holds Asian Small Clawed Otter - they have a pair, and you can pay to swim with them...
 
Thank you.

Shame about the Bearded Pig, I think the only place left that has them is some small facility in Pennsylvania called Wild World of Animals, and who knows if thats even true anymore.
This place also had an African Civet at one point, did you see any signs for it?
With the possible exception of Fanaloka, it seems all the rarities are gone from this one.

It was mentioned earlier on into this thread that they do not have them anymore, I did try and find a map online but they all seem very out of date- most recent one I could find still had Jungle Cat and one had fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox), not to be confused with the fanaloka (Fossa fossana).

I would definitely say the zoo has lost a lot of the rarities people used to go and see, but it also seems they are making better exhibits for the animals they continue to keep, hopefully can one day be a great zoo, and moon bears anymore are a treat to see.

Capital of Texas Zoo holds Asian Small Clawed Otter - they have a pair, and you can pay to swim with them...

I figured it was Asian small clawed, and I did see on their website you can swim with them among other interactions with their species, that pool is very small though not sure how much of a swim you'd get.
 
It was mentioned earlier on into this thread that they do not have them anymore, I did try and find a map online but they all seem very out of date- most recent one I could find still had Jungle Cat and one had fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox), not to be confused with the fanaloka (Fossa fossana).

I would definitely say the zoo has lost a lot of the rarities people used to go and see, but it also seems they are making better exhibits for the animals they continue to keep, hopefully can one day be a great zoo, and moon bears anymore are a treat to see.



I figured it was Asian small clawed, and I did see on their website you can swim with them among other interactions with their species, that pool is very small though not sure how much of a swim you'd get.

They aren't confusing fossa and fanaloka, up until recently Capital of Texas had been the only fanaloka holder for years.
 
With the possible exception of Fanaloka, it seems all the rarities are gone from this one.

Not really - brown lemur, vervet monkey, Asiatic black bear, dingo, and possibly one or two of the parrots are rare these days also. Compared to when they held African Civet and Bornean Bearded Pig, of course, it's a bit of a drop.
 
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Other 2022 News:

On May 6th, the zoo announced they are in the process of moving their Gila monster and albino rattlesnake (species not specified) into larger exhibits in the Reptile House, as well as moving in prairie kingsnakes and unspecified rat snakes.

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On May 8th, the zoo announced that they are building new exhibits for their South American coati (they claim it will be the largest in Texas), vervet monkeys (3x bigger than their old exhibit), patas monkeys, and cockatoos.

Also on May 8th, the zoo announced they will be building a new exhibit for their melanistic leopards which will include an overhead walkway and a large climbing structure.

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On August 8th, the zoo announced they will complete the new Asiatic black bear and African lion exhibits by October 5th. The zoo also announced that they will be completing construction on the new coati exhibit by mid-August, as well as announcing that construction for the new leopard exhibit will be completed on March 1st, 2023.

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