Less an actual zoo than an afterthought in a county park, across from little league fields, picnic grounds, etc. Consists of an outdoor aviary and some paddocks. not a place I would recommend going out of your way to visit, even cross-town for Houstonians, but for those of us who live on the west side of town, it's a nice occasional spur of the moment place to spend a few minutes at, especially since it is free.
The place seemed to have more animals before Hurricane Harvey. One thing to remember is this park located in Addicks Reservoir, which is meant to hold flood waters and prevent downtown Houston from flooding, and during Harvey in 2017 it was under about 15' of water. There used to be bison and emus, among other animals. On my visit today, here were the animals I saw:
Paddocks
The paddocks are all generously sized grassy fields, with covered shelters for the animals. The largest paddock, which used to have the bison, appeared empty today. What I saw in the smaller paddocks were:
Donkey - 1
Vietnamese potbellied pigs -2
Goat - 1
Aviary
The aviary isn't very impressive. The enclosures are only about 10 feet high, and about 12 feet by 12 feet each. They contained:
Barred owl - 3
Crested caracara - 2
Moluccan cockatoo -1
Amazon parrot - 1
Catalina macaw -1
White dove -1
Guinea fowl -1
Chicken -1
The guinea fowl and chicken were in a large enclosure labeled "peafowl". No disappointment for me not to see peafowl, because we actually have a population of feral (but very tame) peafowl in my neighborhood.
There was also one African grey parrot that was the most pitiful animal I have ever seen. I hope it was in there to be rehabilitated. From the neck down, it was missing most of its feathers, and its tail area was red and raw-looking. It almost looked like it should be euthanized, but I'm hoping the county has a veterinarian who knows what they're doing. Seems though like even if it can be saved, in that condition it shouldn't be in an outdoor display.
There is also an enclosure containing four of what I assume are gopher tortoises, and a very large pond (almost a canal, really), with mallard and white ducks.
The place seemed to have more animals before Hurricane Harvey. One thing to remember is this park located in Addicks Reservoir, which is meant to hold flood waters and prevent downtown Houston from flooding, and during Harvey in 2017 it was under about 15' of water. There used to be bison and emus, among other animals. On my visit today, here were the animals I saw:
Paddocks
The paddocks are all generously sized grassy fields, with covered shelters for the animals. The largest paddock, which used to have the bison, appeared empty today. What I saw in the smaller paddocks were:
Donkey - 1
Vietnamese potbellied pigs -2
Goat - 1
Aviary
The aviary isn't very impressive. The enclosures are only about 10 feet high, and about 12 feet by 12 feet each. They contained:
Barred owl - 3
Crested caracara - 2
Moluccan cockatoo -1
Amazon parrot - 1
Catalina macaw -1
White dove -1
Guinea fowl -1
Chicken -1
The guinea fowl and chicken were in a large enclosure labeled "peafowl". No disappointment for me not to see peafowl, because we actually have a population of feral (but very tame) peafowl in my neighborhood.
There was also one African grey parrot that was the most pitiful animal I have ever seen. I hope it was in there to be rehabilitated. From the neck down, it was missing most of its feathers, and its tail area was red and raw-looking. It almost looked like it should be euthanized, but I'm hoping the county has a veterinarian who knows what they're doing. Seems though like even if it can be saved, in that condition it shouldn't be in an outdoor display.
There is also an enclosure containing four of what I assume are gopher tortoises, and a very large pond (almost a canal, really), with mallard and white ducks.
