Houston Zoo Going to Houston Zoo's Galapagos Islands

[TheImmigrant1]

I’m always interested in the future. I’d like to see:

• Status of old sea lion exhibit over the pond
• Anything for the birds being developed.
• flamingo temporary housing in Primates area
• Never seen wide exterior shots of the existing 2 aviaries at the end of Patanal

And of course anything else that could be of note: old pigmy hippo exhibit, old Galapagos tortoise area with the ankole cattle.

thank you so much!!!

Will make note of all of that yes! Galapagos may be brand spanking new but there’s other things we need to check up on. I’m especially curious if their Blue Duikers (housed alongside Pygmy Hippo) are even still on exhibit now that Silas has passed away. Last I saw on the master plan, the old sea lion exhibit is set to be destroyed in order to build a new entry plaza complete with buildings for food, stroller rentals, family photographs, and more, so I’m curious to see when all of that will happen.

 

[splendens]

Don't get excited, it's an exhibit that uses stand ins (California Sea Lions instead of Galapagos Sea Lions, Grand Cayman Blue Iguanas instead of Galapagos Land Iguanas, Humboldt Penguins sinstead of Galapagos Penguins, Common Cownose Rays instead of Golden Cownose Rays etc) the only actual Galapagos species are the tortoises, some fish that aren't exclusive to the islands, and Sally Lightfoot Crabs which are unironically the most exciting thing about the exhibit

To be fair not much else they can get legally, the lava lizards, marine and land iguanas are both only kept illegally, the rest can not be exported.
Except perhaps some rescued seabirds?

 

[TheImmigrant1]

I had no idea there was a Galapagos exhibit anywhere. What's on display? So few of those species are in captivity anywhere.

Yeah the rest of these comments kinda hit the nail on the head. Galápagos Islands was just kind of the name given to this complex that thematically grouped together the necessary upgrades to their outdated sea lion and Galapagos tortoise habitats, a replacement for their old aquarium, and an excuse to bring in the fan favorite penguins. I do feel like the negativity is rather excessive though, it’s not really Houston’s fault they can’t get any of the strictly protected Galapagos species into their zoo. Bringing awareness to the islands with more than just a boring yard of tortoises is a complete win in my book. I understand where the disappointment is coming from, but you can only have so many African Savannas and Asian Temples before it starts to get old, so exploring new often overlooked areas of the world is hopefully something other zoos will be inspired to do from Houston. Even if it isn’t geographically accurate with its species, the Galápagos Islands is a welcome breath of fresh air in the zoo world. The last thing we wanna do is take wild animals from the Galapagos just to be part of a zoo enclosure, I feel as though we can all agree that using substitute species is as irritating as it is excusable in this case.

 

[TheImmigrant1]

To be fair not much else they can get legally, the lava lizards, marine and land iguanas are both only kept illegally, the rest can not be exported.
Except perhaps some rescued seabirds?

To be fair not much else they can get legally, the lava lizards, marine and land iguanas are both only kept illegally, the rest can not be exported.
Except perhaps some rescued seabirds?

If another El Paso situation happens with a Frigate Bird or Boobie and it somehow manages to end up in Houston’s care then I could see it staying behind the scenes until it recovers and is eventually released. If the bird is unreleaseable though then I still highly doubt they’d be part of this exhibit as there is no unused enclosure for them to live in permanently, best case scenario they could be an ambassador animal used during sea lion shows.

 

[Trowaman]

Yeah the rest of these comments kinda hit the nail on the head. Galápagos Islands was just kind of the name given to this complex that thematically grouped together the necessary upgrades to their outdated sea lion and Galapagos tortoise habitats, a replacement for their old aquarium, and an excuse to bring in the fan favorite penguins. I do feel like the negativity is rather excessive though, it’s not really Houston’s fault they can’t get any of the strictly protected Galapagos species into their zoo. Bringing awareness to the islands with more than just a boring yard of tortoises is a complete win in my book. I understand where the disappointment is coming from, but you can only have so many African Savannas and Asian Temples before it starts to get old, so exploring new often overlooked areas of the world is hopefully something other zoos will be inspired to do from Houston. Even if it isn’t geographically accurate with its species, the Galápagos Islands is a welcome breath of fresh air in the zoo world. The last thing we wanna do is take wild animals from the Galapagos just to be part of a zoo enclosure, I feel as though we can all agree that using substitute species is as irritating as it is excusable in this case.

This so much!
One of the things we forget is the average zoo visitor is coming in and not confusing what kind of tiger is on display, they’re calling them lions and vice-versa. The idea of there being multiple kinds of sea lions or penguins is a concept lost on many visitors. So long as the signage is accurate, this will be fine. The theme is about conveying an atmosphere and idea. And this compilation of creatures will accomplish that just fine.

 

[TheImmigrant1]

This so much!
One of the things we forget is the average zoo visitor is coming in and not confusing what kind of tiger is on display, they’re calling them lions and vice-versa. The idea of there being multiple kinds of sea lions or penguins is a concept lost on many visitors. So long as the signage is accurate, this will be fine. The theme is about conveying an atmosphere and idea. And this compilation of creatures will accomplish that just fine.

Exactly! To the average zoo guest a Penguin is just a penguin, an iguana is just an iguana, a shark is just a shark, and even if you do try to educate them about the actual species on display they’ll most likely just ignore the information or just not be interested. Most of them will probably be flabbergasted to find out tropical penguins exist. This will show people that the Galapagos aren’t just Tortoise Islands like many believe, even if the species aren’t accurate. If 1 out of 100 people get inspired to learn more about the Galapagos from this exhibit, then it has done its job.

 

[RatioTile]

Yeah the rest of these comments kinda hit the nail on the head. Galápagos Islands was just kind of the name given to this complex that thematically grouped together the necessary upgrades to their outdated sea lion and Galapagos tortoise habitats, a replacement for their old aquarium, and an excuse to bring in the fan favorite penguins. I do feel like the negativity is rather excessive though, it’s not really Houston’s fault they can’t get any of the strictly protected Galapagos species into their zoo. Bringing awareness to the islands with more than just a boring yard of tortoises is a complete win in my book. I understand where the disappointment is coming from, but you can only have so many African Savannas and Asian Temples before it starts to get old, so exploring new often overlooked areas of the world is hopefully something other zoos will be inspired to do from Houston. Even if it isn’t geographically accurate with its species, the Galápagos Islands is a welcome breath of fresh air in the zoo world. The last thing we wanna do is take wild animals from the Galapagos just to be part of a zoo enclosure, I feel as though we can all agree that using substitute species is as irritating as it is excusable in this case.

I would vastly prefer if they had called the section "The World's Coasts" and for each animal exhibit have exhibit interpretation be about the animal and its specific ecosystem, so "Galapagos Island Giants" for the tortoises, "California Kelp Forest" for the sea lions, "Penguins of Peru" for Humboldt penguins, "Cayman Islands Conservation Efforts" for the blue iguanas, etc. Focus messages about human-wildlife conflict with the sea lions, island endemism for the tortoises, El Niño for the penguins, and ex-situ conservation plus rewilding for the blue iguanas. And at the very end, tie it all together with messages about protecting water and oceans from plastic, climate change, and overfishing. That way, there's a main narrative and each species gets fully respected for what it is rather than comparing it to species they are not.

 

[TheImmigrant1]

I would vastly prefer if they had called the section "The World's Coasts" and for each animal exhibit have exhibit interpretation be about the animal and its specific ecosystem, so "Galapagos Island Giants" for the tortoises, "California Kelp Forest" for the sea lions, "Penguins of Peru" for Humboldt penguins, "Cayman Islands Conservation Efforts" for the blue iguanas, etc. Focus messages about human-wildlife conflict with the sea lions, island endemism for the tortoises, El Niño for the penguins, and ex-situ conservation plus rewilding for the blue iguanas. And at the very end, tie it all together with messages about protecting water and oceans from plastic, climate change, and overfishing. That way, there's a main narrative and each species gets fully respected for what it is rather than comparing it to species they are not.

That… that’s actually perfect. That could’ve worked flawlessly, but like I said in another forum I bet they stuck with the Galapagos name for the sake of publicity. The zoo loves to say “This is the first of its kind, the only Galapagos exhibit in the world” in advertising. So the Galapagos name was just much easier to market to the general public than a general coasts exhibit, especially since it’s supposed to be the crown jewel of their master plan’s phase 1. I feel like your concept would be loved by zoo nerds (I know I would) but it’s message would be lost on the general public for the most part, but then again that kinda goes for all zoo exhibits huh.

 

[RatioTile]

That… that’s actually perfect. That could’ve worked flawlessly, but like I said in another forum I bet they stuck with the Galapagos name for the sake of publicity. The zoo loves to say “This is the first of its kind, the only Galapagos exhibit in the world” in advertising. So the Galapagos name was just much easier to market to the general public than a general coasts exhibit, especially since it’s supposed to be the crown jewel of their master plan’s phase 1. I feel like your concept would be loved by zoo nerds (I know I would) but it’s message would be lost on the general public for the most part, but then again that kinda goes for all zoo exhibits huh.

Natural history museums are that nerdy in detail, and don’t appear to suffer for it. Also, wouldn’t the Charles Darwin Research Station be the “first Galapagos exhibit in the world?”

 

[TheImmigrant1]

Natural history museums are that nerdy in detail, and don’t appear to suffer for it. Also, wouldn’t the Charles Darwin Research Station be the “first Galapagos exhibit in the world?”

Probably should’ve specified it to begin with, but I meant the first major zoo exhibit thats themed around the Galapagos.

 

[TinoPup]

Sally Lightfoot crabs are not particularly rare in the private trade, they can be found online as they range out of the Galapagos.

I tried looking into this the other day and from what I could gather, the ones in the private trade are a different species from the Galapagos species.

 

[DavidBrown]

Lee Ehmke and his team at Houston Zoo are trying to get people excited about the Galapagos ecosystem and its conservation in a way no other zoo or aquarium has. As others have noted it is a unique unifying theme that allows for needed replacements for the zoo's outdated aquarium and sea lion exhibit. Other than San Diego Zoo's Galapagos tortoise exhibit, I've not seen Galapagos tortoises showcased as the stars of an exhibit complex like this.

The use of zoo immersion exhibits to advance conservation education is getting a unique experiment here.

 

[splendens]

I tried looking into this the other day and from what I could gather, the ones in the private trade are a different species from the Galapagos species.

Yes, but Grapsus grapsus is also found in South and Central America.

 

[Otter Lord]

I would vastly prefer if they had called the section "The World's Coasts" and for each animal exhibit have exhibit interpretation be about the animal and its specific ecosystem, so "Galapagos Island Giants" for the tortoises, "California Kelp Forest" for the sea lions, "Penguins of Peru" for Humboldt penguins, "Cayman Islands Conservation Efforts" for the blue iguanas, etc. Focus messages about human-wildlife conflict with the sea lions, island endemism for the tortoises, El Niño for the penguins, and ex-situ conservation plus rewilding for the blue iguanas. And at the very end, tie it all together with messages about protecting water and oceans from plastic, climate change, and overfishing. That way, there's a main narrative and each species gets fully respected for what it is rather than comparing it to species they are not.

That's way too many messages and themes with no unity. All of those messages are worth telling but tertiary at best to the main message. The zoo is a conservation organization and chose to highlight the work they do in the Galapagos. If they told all those stories, then that makn point would be missed.

Also, I feel like we've all accepted Amur Leopards in place for African leopards, but I can tell them apart more than I could with any of the other Galapagos stand-ins.

 

[TheImmigrant1]

Hello everyone, I am finally done posting every single picture from my trip to the Houston Zoo to see the new Galápagos Islands as well as update you all on what happened to everything else around the zoo. To answer everything that was asked of me.

• I took a picture of every fish sign at the new exhibit, unfortunately all but one were taken down by mods for being repetitive which is unfortunate but understandable. A full species list of the Galápagos Islands will be provided in a separate comment.
  
• I took the best pictures that I could have the Sally lightfoot crabs, they can be seen in Houston Zoo’s media.
• I took a ton of overall enclosure wide shots to make sure you all got to see every part of this new exhibit, I barely even got any individual animal pictures
• The old sea lion enclosure has been surrounded by a construction fence and is set to become “Jack’s Cafe” if you look on the zoos updated map. The master plan details that it’ll be a guest plaza with food, drinks, coffee, stroller rentals, family photography, ice cream, restrooms, and more guest services all overlooking the reflection pool. Though a date isn’t provided, I’d bet that this new plaza will open a little before or maybe even alongside the Birds of the World Garden.
• Speaking of which I got almost nothing about the new bird garden’s development. The most I can tell you is that the flamingo pool has been drained and that the areas of the old flamingo enclosure and the old bird garden have been surrounded by a construction fence. Looks like we’re going to have to wait for the zoo itself to give us some news.
• I got the wide shots of the exteriors of both aviaries in the South America’s Pantanal exhibit.
• The Pygmy Hippo enclosure is now a mixed species enclosure for Blue Duikers, African Spurr Thighed Tortoises, and Eastern Crested Guineafowl (They aren’t at the zoo yet but are coming soon)
• With the Galápagos Giants and the Spurr Thighed Tortoises gone, the Tortoise Trio has officially disbanded. The zoo’s rising stars, Mr. Pickles and the rest of the Radiated Tortoise family have gone solo in the enclosure right besides the Ankole Cattle.
• I also got pictures of the Chilean Flamingos in their temporary enclosure of what once was a Babirusa enclosure. As well as pictures of the juvenile flamingos who hatched not too long ago.
• On the topic of babies, I managed to miss not just the cougar cubs, not just the meerkat pups but the capybara pups as well. I wasn’t surprised about the first twos absences but the capybaras surprised me, it was a cool and rainy day, perfect weather for them. Yet I failed to see them, sorry guys.

 

[TheImmigrant1]

Species List

Sea Lion Coast

1. California Sea Lion (Zalophus Californianus)

Where Reptiles Rule

1. Galapagos Tortoise (Chelonoides niger)
2. Grand Cayman Blue Iguana (Cyclura Lewisi)

Submerged Worlds

1. Sally Lightfoot Crab (Grapsus grapsus)
2. Nimble Spray Crab (Perenon Gibbesi)

Our Shared Ocean

1. Single-Use Plastic Bottle (Plasticus Bottlelos)
2. Single-Use Plastic Bag (Plasticus Baggeos)
3. Single-Use Plastic Straws (Plasticus Strawenos)
4. Sea Nettle (Chrysaora)

One Ocean Aquarium

1. Guineafowl Puffer (Arothron meleagris)
2. King Angelfish (Holacanthus passer)
3. Cortez Angelfish (Pomacanthus zonipeetus)
4. Convict Surgeonfish (Acanthurus triostegus)
5. Cuvier’s Surgeonfish (Acanthurus xanthopterus)
6. Bignose Unicornfish (Naso vlamingii)
7. Spotted Unicornfish (Naso brevirostris)
8. Razor Surgeonfish (Prionurus laticlavius)
9. Pacific Creole Fish (Paranthias colonus)
10. Bonnethead Shark (Sphyrna tiburo)
11. Blacktip Reef Shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus)
12. Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas)
13. Cownose Ray (Rhinoptera bonasus)
14. Blacknosed Butterflyfish (Johnrandallia nigrirostris)
15. Raccoon Butterflyfish (Chaetodon lunula)
16. Threadfin Butterflyfish (Chaetodon auriga)
17. Sunburst Butterflyfish (Chaetodon kleinii)
18. Threebanded Butterflyfish (Chaetodon robustus)
19. Longnose Butterflyfish (Forcipiger longirostris)
20. Cortez Rainbow Wrasse (Thalassoma lucasanum)
21. Sunset Wrasse (Thalassoma grammaticum)
22. Rockmover Wrasse (Novaculichthys taeniourus)
23. Mexican Hogfish (Bodianus diplotaenia)

Into the Lava Tunnel

1. Sea Star (Astropecten)
2. Seahorse (Hippocampus)
3. Trumpetfish (Aulostomus)
4. Snowflake Eel (Echidna nebulosa)
5. Small Spine Sea Star (Echidnaster spinulosus)
6. Sea Urchin (Lytechinus)
7. Sea Cucumber (Isostichopus)
8. Longnose Hawkfish (Oxycirrhites typus)
9. Purple Long Spine Urchin (Arbacia punctulata)
10. Spotted Sharpnose Puffer (Canthigaster punctatissima)

Flightless Perfection

1. Humboldt Penguin (Spheniscus humboldti)

40 species total! (Not counting the obviously a joke plastic trio)

 

[pachyderm pro]

Single-Use Plastic Straws (Plasticus Strawenos)

Interesting choice. Because it is an invasive species in many parts of the world, most zoos have phased out this species in favor of Paperus strawenos. They are increasingly rare so it's great to see the zoo feature them...

Thank you both for the species list and your elaborate photo tour. All things considered this looks like quite a remarkable development with every enclosure being superbly designed.

 

[King of Komodo Dragons]

The old concept art showed Spotted Eagle Rays, guess they didn't end up getting them

 

[TheImmigrant1]

The old concept art showed Spotted Eagle Rays, guess they didn't end up getting them

Nope, I was very sad to see that they didn’t make it. Yet another species we can add to the list of “Avenge the Fallen: Houston Zoo Edition”. Maybe someday in the future they’ll swap out the cownose rays for spotted Eagle rays since the master plan details there being a stingray touch pool in their Texas area, and what species is more common in touch tanks than Cownose rays.

 

[TheImmigrant1]

Interesting choice. Because it is an invasive species in many parts of the world, most zoos have phased out this species in favor of Paperus strawenos. They are increasingly rare so it's great to see the zoo feature them...

Thank you both for the species list and your elaborate photo tour. All things considered this looks like quite a remarkable development with every enclosure being superbly designed.

Honestly surprised to see them over Paperus Strawenos like you mentioned, hell even Metalicus Strawenos would’ve fit in nicely since they’re commonly found in the Galapagos.

All jokes aside, thank you so much for your kind words. I tried my best to take pictures of everything in every angle conceivable as to not leave everyone wanting to see more, heck if anything I’m sure some people wanted to see less after my media spam. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone’s opinions and discussions now that zoochat has a way to view the exhibit, besides seeing it for yourself in person.