Best collections in Texas

J

Jurek7

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
Hi, I will be visiting Texas: Dallas to the south Coast, and may have some hours free to squeeze some zoos in. Can you recommends some?
My criteria are mammals and birds which cannot be seen elsewhere. So not interested in gorillas or tigers, but Dallas Aquarium and its bird collection is in. Anybody knows how it is possible to aget a peek behind the scenes? Good collections of local mammals?
 
Do you know how much free time you’ll have exactly? And where specifically will you be visiting?

DWA is a good choice, though with their massive collection it’s almost a guarantee that you won’t see everything. Every time you go you’ll see something different. To get off exhibit, you either need to know someone or to get lucky and run into the director, and neither is easy. However, most of the off-exhibit collection has dwindled anyways as it’s been sent to their breeding center, which is off site and harder to get into. Even most of DWA’s staff haven’t been there, so unless you know someone there you won’t have a chance.

Besides DWA there is quite a large number of collections in the immediate Dallas-Fort Worth area, but for your purposes all can be ignored except the Dallas Zoo and the Fort Worth Zoo. Their specialties are both reptiles, and the superior zoo is without a doubt Dallas. However, for native mammals you’ll find Fort Worth is a better choice, despite their poorer exhibitry. Neither has a great bird collection.

If you’re heading through Waco, the Cameron Park Zoo is nice but not a priority. If you go through Austin, nothing there is worth noting either unless you want to see the Capital of Texas Zoo’s fanaloka. But if I recall correctly it’s getting old and in any case is near impossible to see without the help of a staff member.

If you’re keen on reptiles and head through New Braunfels, then the Animal World and Snake Farm Zoo, while horridly named, is definitely a priority. They are filled to the brim with snakes hard to see elsewhere.

San Antonio has a few collections too, but the more notable ones are SeaWorld and the San Antonio Zoo. SeaWorld San Antonio is definitely the worst of the chain. The only way to see the orcas, white-sided dolphins, and belugas is by watching their shows. If those species are attractive to you then I’d give it a visit, but don’t expect much. The San Antonio Zoo is nice, with a bird collection that rivals DWA in size if not rarity. That said, there are some cool birds there too. If you’re lucky, they’ll have whooping cranes on exhibit during your visit. Their reptile house also has a few cool things.

Houston is another bird zoo. Birds and reptiles are a common theme in Texas. Unfortunately a sizable portion of their on-exhibit gems have moved off exhibit, but there are quite a few species nice to see nonetheless.

If you make the long journey down to Brownsville, the Gladys Porter Zoo is the best for rare mammals. West African bushbuck is the star of the collection, though there are also Bornean bearded pig (though I imagine you’ve seen that elsewhere), Guatemalan mantled howler monkey, and red-flanked duiker, and Central American red brocket deer. The zoo is really far from any other though.

That’s the general summary of the main zoos I think may interest you. If you’d like more info on any particular one, or a few I didn’t cover, I’d be happy to help. Also if there’s a particular species you’d like to find but don’t know which collections keeps it, I will be able to answer. Enjoy your trip!
 
I've visited 45 of the 50 zoos in the state of Texas and my thread 'Snowleopard's 2015 Road Trip' has trip reports on loads of zoos throughout Texas. Included in that thread are many lists of species for places like Fort Worth Zoo (the world-class MOLA Reptile House), Dallas Zoo's Reptile House, Houston Zoo's Reptile House and I even typed out a list of snakes at Animal World & Snake Farm Zoo. You can check out the thread for more details.

I should point out that @jayjds2 did a great job of summarizing some Texas establishments. :)
 
Texas has quite a diverse collection, so I bolded various groups of animals so that you can easily find whatever groups of animals you are looking for.

As for reptiles, Fort Worth and Dallas are both well known for their extensive viper collections, including but not limited to species such as wagler's viper, mangrove viper, sedge viper, and usambara mountain bush viper. Dallas is also loaded with elapids such as forest cobras, samar cobras, and the inland taipan. The San Antonio Zoo also has quite a large reptile collection with several species that are very rare, such as habu, cross banded mountain rattlesnake, and Nikolski's viper. As Jay mentioned, if you want to find rare reptiles, make sure you stop by Animal World and Snake Farm Zoo, they have a surplus of rare species too long to list as well as a wall of native species which aren't often seen in captivity. The Dallas World Aquarium itself has some rarities such as Fer-de-lance and Orinoco crocodile, though don't expect much reptile wise from them. The Cameron Park zoo also has a few rarities as well as many native species but not too much crazy. None of these zoos have a crazy Amphibian collections but spread between them you can find rare species such as Lake Titicaca Frogs at Fort Worth and Texas blind salamander at Dallas.

For birds Houston, San Antonio, and the Dallas World Aquarium, are kings. Between all three the aquarium has more rarities on exhibit you won't find at many other institutions simply because of how geographically specific it is with it's collection. Dallas and Fort Worth aren't fantastic for birds but they both have above average collections with rarities such as harpy eagles at both. Both Dallas and Fort Worth zoos have a sizable waterfowl collection filled with both non native and native species.

For mammals Gladys Porter sounds like the best, though Iv'e never been there. Neither Fort Worth, Dallas, San Antonio, or Houston have anything exceptional though Fort Worth has a few species of native bat and red wolves. If you really want to see a fanaloka the Capital of Texas Zoo has theirs but you will need to ask someone to show you it because it quite literally lives in a box, and you will know very well which box it is because it has two signs on it, one listing the wrong species, the other correct. Fossil Rim has a lot of hoofstock though there's nothing there in terms of rarities, and many of their species can be seen at Dallas and Fort Worth zoos. If you've never seen a Geoffrey's cat and are a die hard cat lover the very small and very close to Dallas Frank Buck zoo has some but that's about it for them.

For fish the Dallas World Aquarium has the one of the best collections in Texas. Though their fish make up a small percentage of their collection, they are all high quality species. The Fair Park Aquarium in Dallas doesn't have a very large collection and the SEA LIFE in grapevine doesn't either. On the coast Moody Gardens has a very nice aquarium with a solid collection of fish, and the Texas State Aquarium has a nice collection with many native species but it's not very large.
 
Here is the species list from my 2015 road trip:

Animal World & Snake Farm Zoo:

Animal World & Snake Farm Zoo is a non-AZA accredited zoo located in New Braunfels, Texas, and it opened in 1967. How this place managed to get hold of lions, cougars, wolves and hyenas is beyond my comprehension but sure enough those animals can be found outside in small but barely adequate exhibits. There are many other mammals in tiny cages that are perhaps 10 feet wide and 6 feet deep and are pure “roadside zoo” cages likely from the opening date of 1967. Inside the entrance area it is very tiny and there are two galleries packed to the gills with mainly snakes in small terrariums that offer nothing much more than sawdust and a water bowl. The species list is incredible and it is easy enough to see the animals but there is very little attempt at a natural-looking terrarium. The facility is directly next to a major highway and it was jammed with passing tourists.

Species list for outdoor exhibits (42 total): African Lion (two white ones), Cougar, Spotted Hyena, Serval, Tayra, African Crested Porcupine, Capybara, Pig-Tailed Macaque, Black-Capped Capuchin, Common Marmoset, Squirrel Monkey, Black and White Ruffed Lemur, Red Ruffed Lemur, Common Brown Lemur, Ring-Tailed Lemur, Grey Wolf, Fennec Fox, Coati, Prevost’s Squirrel, Asian Small-Clawed Otter, Rock Hyrax, Patagonian Cavy, Groundhog, Prairie Dog, Texas Longhorn Cattle, Watusi Cattle, Grant’s Zebra, American Bison, Miniature Horse, Warthog, Dromedary, Eurasian Eagle Owl, Scarlet Macaw, Green-Winged Macaw, Hyacinth Macaw, Vasa Parrot, Eclectus Parrot, Double Yellow-Headed Amazon Parrot, Golden Conure, Moluccan Cockatoo, Kookaburra and White-Necked Raven.

Reptile & Amphibian species list (146 total including 131 snakes!): Green Anaconda, Emerald Tree Boa, Jamaican Boa, Amazon Tree Boa, Rosy Boa, Brazilian Rainbow Boa, Kenyan Sand Boa, Solomon Island Ground Boa, Cuban Boa, Dominican Mountain Boa, Red-Tail Boa Constrictor, Caramel Albino Ball Python, Ringed Python, Green Tree Python, Jungle Carpet Python, Timor Python, Anthill Python, Reticulated Python, Angolan Python, White Lip Python, Albino Burmese Python, Hypo Granite Burmese Python, Albino Blood Python, Mexican Burrowing Python, King Cobra, Egyptian Cobra, False Water Cobra, Coral Cobra, Indian Spectacled Cobra, Monacle Cobra, Moroccan Cobra, Samar Cobra, Black and White Spitting Cobra, Red Spitting Cobra, Forest Cobra, Broad-Banded Copperhead, Southern Copperhead, Trans-Pecos Copperhead, Chinese Copperhead, Western Cottonmouth, Fer-De-Lance, Black Mamba, Gaboon Viper, Central African Bush Viper, West African Bush Viper, Variable Bush Viper, Temple Viper, Russel’s Viper, Sahara Sand Viper, Transdanubian Sand Viper, Hognose Pit Viper, Saw Scale Viper, Death Adder, Puff Adder, Inland Taipan, Bushmaster, Ornate Cantil, Western Massasauga, Eastern Massasauga, Desert Massasauga, Sidewinder, Carolina Pygmy Rattlesnake, Mexican Dusky Rattlesnake, Western Pygmy Rattlesnake, Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, Canebrake Rattlesnake, Mojave Rattlesnake, Southern Pacific Rattlesnake, Tiger Rattlesnake, Midget Faded Rattlesnake, Uracoan Rattlesnake, Baja Rattlesnake, Huamantlan Rattlesnake, Quartzite Speckled Rattlesnake, Black Tail Rattlesnake, Banded Rock Rattlesnake, Mottled Rock Rattlesnake, Northwestern Neotropical Rattlesnake, Prairie Rattlesnake, Arizona Black Rattlesnake, Great Basin Rattlesnake, Bullsnake, Albino Nelson’s Milksnake, Sinaloan Milksnake, Hypo Pueblan Milksnake, Honduran Milksnake, Hypo Red Milksnake, New Mexican Milksnake, Mexican Milksnake, Louisiana Milksnake, Black Pine Snake, Durango Mountain Pine Snake, Grey-Banded Kingsnake, Nuevo Leon Kingsnake, Albino Striped California Kingsnake, California Kingsnake, Mexican Black Kingsnake, Arizona Mountain Kingsnake, Striped California Kingsnake, Durango Mountain Kingsnake, Tarahumara Mountain Kingsnake, Baja Kingsnake, Utah Mountain Kingsnake, Desert Kingsnake, Hypo Baird’s Rat Snake, Granite San Luis Putosi Kingsnake, Speckled Kingsnake, Western Hognose Snake, Giant Madagascan Hognose Snake, Mexican Hognose Snake, Coral Snake, Corn Snake, Coachwhip, Bamboo Rat Snake, Texas Rat Snake, Mandarin Rat Snake, Emory Rat Snake, White-Sided Black Rat Snake, Japanese Rat Snake, Northern Green Rat Snake, Red-Tailed Green Rat Snake, Trans-Pecos Rat Snake, South Florida Yellow Rat Snake, Fox Snake, Yellow-Throated Bold-Eyed Tree Snake, Paradise Flying Tree Snake, Barrons Racer, Beak-Nosed Snake, Checkered Garter Snake, Eastern Indigo Snake, Glossy Snake, Green Tree Monitor, Solomon Island Spiny Monitor, Solomon Island Skink, Giant Day Gecko, Axanthic Green Iguana, Spectacled Caiman, Cuvier’s Dwarf Caiman, Siamese Crocodile, American Alligator, Alligator Snapping Turtle, Rio Grande Ornate Turtle, American Box Turtle, African Spurred Tortoise, Red-Foot Tortoise and Pancake Tortoise.
 
snowleopard said:
Reptile & Amphibian species list (146 total including 131 snakes!): Green Anaconda, Emerald Tree Boa, Jamaican Boa, Amazon Tree Boa, Rosy Boa, Brazilian Rainbow Boa, Kenyan Sand Boa, Solomon Island Ground Boa, Cuban Boa, Dominican Mountain Boa, Red-Tail Boa Constrictor, Caramel Albino Ball Python, Ringed Python, Green Tree Python, Jungle Carpet Python, Timor Python, Anthill Python, Reticulated Python, Angolan Python, White Lip Python, Albino Burmese Python, Hypo Granite Burmese Python, Albino Blood Python, Mexican Burrowing Python, King Cobra, Egyptian Cobra, False Water Cobra, Coral Cobra, Indian Spectacled Cobra, Monacle Cobra, Moroccan Cobra, Samar Cobra, Black and White Spitting Cobra, Red Spitting Cobra, Forest Cobra, Broad-Banded Copperhead, Southern Copperhead, Trans-Pecos Copperhead, Chinese Copperhead, Western Cottonmouth, Fer-De-Lance, Black Mamba, Gaboon Viper, Central African Bush Viper, West African Bush Viper, Variable Bush Viper, Temple Viper, Russel’s Viper, Sahara Sand Viper, Transdanubian Sand Viper, Hognose Pit Viper, Saw Scale Viper, Death Adder, Puff Adder, Inland Taipan, Bushmaster, Ornate Cantil, Western Massasauga, Eastern Massasauga, Desert Massasauga, Sidewinder, Carolina Pygmy Rattlesnake, Mexican Dusky Rattlesnake, Western Pygmy Rattlesnake, Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, Canebrake Rattlesnake, Mojave Rattlesnake, Southern Pacific Rattlesnake, Tiger Rattlesnake, Midget Faded Rattlesnake, Uracoan Rattlesnake, Baja Rattlesnake, Huamantlan Rattlesnake, Quartzite Speckled Rattlesnake, Black Tail Rattlesnake, Banded Rock Rattlesnake, Mottled Rock Rattlesnake, Northwestern Neotropical Rattlesnake, Prairie Rattlesnake, Arizona Black Rattlesnake, Great Basin Rattlesnake, Bullsnake, Albino Nelson’s Milksnake, Sinaloan Milksnake, Hypo Pueblan Milksnake, Honduran Milksnake, Hypo Red Milksnake, New Mexican Milksnake, Mexican Milksnake, Louisiana Milksnake, Black Pine Snake, Durango Mountain Pine Snake, Grey-Banded Kingsnake, Nuevo Leon Kingsnake, Albino Striped California Kingsnake, California Kingsnake, Mexican Black Kingsnake, Arizona Mountain Kingsnake, Striped California Kingsnake, Durango Mountain Kingsnake, Tarahumara Mountain Kingsnake, Baja Kingsnake, Utah Mountain Kingsnake, Desert Kingsnake, Hypo Baird’s Rat Snake, Granite San Luis Putosi Kingsnake, Speckled Kingsnake, Western Hognose Snake, Giant Madagascan Hognose Snake, Mexican Hognose Snake, Coral Snake, Corn Snake, Coachwhip, Bamboo Rat Snake, Texas Rat Snake, Mandarin Rat Snake, Emory Rat Snake, White-Sided Black Rat Snake, Japanese Rat Snake, Northern Green Rat Snake, Red-Tailed Green Rat Snake, Trans-Pecos Rat Snake, South Florida Yellow Rat Snake, Fox Snake, Yellow-Throated Bold-Eyed Tree Snake, Paradise Flying Tree Snake, Barrons Racer, Beak-Nosed Snake, Checkered Garter Snake, Eastern Indigo Snake, Glossy Snake, Green Tree Monitor, Solomon Island Spiny Monitor, Solomon Island Skink, Giant Day Gecko, Axanthic Green Iguana, Spectacled Caiman, Cuvier’s Dwarf Caiman, Siamese Crocodile, American Alligator, Alligator Snapping Turtle, Rio Grande Ornate Turtle, American Box Turtle, African Spurred Tortoise, Red-Foot Tortoise and Pancake Tortoise.
Click to expand...

Many of these species have gone off exhibit or have been replaced since then. If you look in the North American 2018 challenge I posted a list of every species of reptile they had which may give a more updated look at the collection. I only listed one subspecies per species but they had quite a few subspecies of different species, especially rattlesnakes.
 
Thanks a lot everybody! I may contact you for details. It is still not certain if I will have time to visit any collection, but better be prepared.
 
I visited Dallas World Aquarium and enjoyed it. Had a nice chat with a bird keeper (if he is here, hello!).

Somebody should have told me in advance to bring binoculars and perhaps a South American bird guidebook, given huge number of birds in a tall free-flight room and several aviaries visible only from the distance! :)
 
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