Howdy, former volunteer (up until a few months ago, job conflict) here with some information. Shoebills are definitely a species the zoo would love to have in the far future, but boobies and trumpeter swans are both extremely unlikely.
In terms of messaging and conservation, they could work in the Galapagos exhibit, but it is very, very unlikely other species will be mixed in with the penguins. That is the only habitat that could support them, as the sealions could hurt or kill the birds (for this reason the pelicans & gulls in the children's zoo didn't move to either the penguin or sealion exhibits, contrary to the master plan).
Moreso, there are already statues of booby birds outside of the giant tortoise exhibit. The zoo is creating more room and improving animal care by reducing the number of species; those that cannot be housed or acquired are represented by statues. There are some exceptions (there is an alligator statue in the wetlands exhibit, but this was more for guest photo ops), but the giant armadillo is probably the best example of this philosophy (getting a giant armadillo to the Houston Zoo would have been logistically near impossible, and would really contradict the messaging of in situ conservation). Not to mention, acquiring a booby bird would really only be possible through a rehabilitation scenario, which is very unlikely to occur.
Also, much of the master plan has changed and adapted since 2018, the Galapagos alone went through 4 iterations that we know of (multiple iterations of a mangrove sections were eventually replaced by the penguins), and even areas like the wetlands never got the splash play area due to a lack of funding (although I suspect this is something that will return in the future). So take that document with a huge serving of salt.
In terms of messaging and conservation, they could work in the Galapagos exhibit, but it is very, very unlikely other species will be mixed in with the penguins. That is the only habitat that could support them, as the sealions could hurt or kill the birds (for this reason the pelicans & gulls in the children's zoo didn't move to either the penguin or sealion exhibits, contrary to the master plan).
Moreso, there are already statues of booby birds outside of the giant tortoise exhibit. The zoo is creating more room and improving animal care by reducing the number of species; those that cannot be housed or acquired are represented by statues. There are some exceptions (there is an alligator statue in the wetlands exhibit, but this was more for guest photo ops), but the giant armadillo is probably the best example of this philosophy (getting a giant armadillo to the Houston Zoo would have been logistically near impossible, and would really contradict the messaging of in situ conservation). Not to mention, acquiring a booby bird would really only be possible through a rehabilitation scenario, which is very unlikely to occur.
Also, much of the master plan has changed and adapted since 2018, the Galapagos alone went through 4 iterations that we know of (multiple iterations of a mangrove sections were eventually replaced by the penguins), and even areas like the wetlands never got the splash play area due to a lack of funding (although I suspect this is something that will return in the future). So take that document with a huge serving of salt.
