Zoo Tours: NEW! Galápagos Islands | Houston Zoo

Blue Footed Boobies and Marine Iguanas, are they illegal to bring to this area?

@Angie Selestino Marine Iguanas are endemic to the Galapagos and are super illegal to keep in captivity. Not to mention Houston's iguana enclosure is in no way suitable for marine iguanas. Blue Footed Boobies are seldom kept in captivity, and there are zero in the US. There would be no point for Houston to acquire and prominently exhibit an animal with no set Species Survival Plan to ensure genetic diversity for the future and that no other AZA zoo has. It's just not sustainable nor is it necessary. Not to mention that again, Houston has no suitable exhibit for them in the Galapagos Islands exhibit.

@TheImmigrant1 So I guess both are illegal then. So what is used instead of Marine Igauanas because of the Marine Igauanas being illegal?

@Angie Selestino The video explains this

There’s a sign in the video that says that Marine Iguanas are illegal for the exhibit. What does that mean?

@Angie Selestino It means that it's illegal to export them from the Galapagos for any reason as those populations are very critically endangered. Hope that answers your question!

@StoppableSan anything else illegal besides Marine Igauanas that are off limits to the Galapagos Island exhibit?

@StoppableSan The biggest reason is in Uganda where they had some that Ecuador is asking for back but Uganda hides them.