Houston Zoo Houston Zoo news 2016-2017

GraysonDP said:
I wonder if it means sea lions will be phased out of the collection. That would be the loss of a popular animal but also a really awful exhibit.
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They were pretty proud of the recent sea lion pup, so I dunno, but maybe. I'd really love to see the sea lion exhibit redesigned rather than phased out, honestly. Admittedly I'm kind of biased, my last few visits to the Houston Zoo got me more interested in sea lions. But they're the only marine mammals at the zoo, so they give a little diversity. Plus I think pinniped exhibits have the opportunity to be super duper cool, since they hang out in both land and water you can have some cool coastal exhibits. Plus they tend to be pretty active, which is always popular with zoo visitors.
 
TheMightyOrca said:
They were pretty proud of the recent sea lion pup, so I dunno, but maybe. I'd really love to see the sea lion exhibit redesigned rather than phased out, honestly. Admittedly I'm kind of biased, my last few visits to the Houston Zoo got me more interested in sea lions. But they're the only marine mammals at the zoo, so they give a little diversity. Plus I think pinniped exhibits have the opportunity to be super duper cool, since they hang out in both land and water you can have some cool coastal exhibits. Plus they tend to be pretty active, which is always popular with zoo visitors.
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I would love them to stay at the zoo but just not in the concrete swimming pool they're in now.
 
DavidBrown said:
Is it too much to hope for marine iguanas and Darwin's finches too?
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Yes, it probably is!

I would like to see the Houston Zoo go into some fieldwork with them.
(the local zoo vet is a frequent and well respected visitor and participant in Galapagos giant tortoise field work)
 
Since no one has posted it, the elephant expansion is finally complete and open. Elephants are spread over 2 yards instead of 3 now. Bulls are in the newer yard, cows in the older one previously opened. Word is 2 cows are pregnant and on active baby watch now. The last calf, Duncan, was born 3 years ago.

Moving forward, African Forest 3 is being delayed until after the centennial. The next project is a revamp of the Cypress Circle eateries. After that projects include:
-Orangutan refresh (nothing major, just a clean up and update, especially behind the scenes, no new land)
-Bird update. No idea what this includes
-South America, this is going over the hoofstock by birds and the children zoo. Tapirs, giant river otters are what I've heard. Jaguar relocation is a question mark. They want to move them, but it's budget dependent. Current jaguar enclosure was updated in 2010 or 2011. Moving the South American animals does open up the area by African Forest for more expansions of that theme.
-Sea Lions. It's long rumored. It's happening, but it's last of the smaller projects before the centennial.

The centennial is 192 ... something. Not sure exactly what year it opened. Early 1920s.
 
Trowaman said:
Since no one has posted it, the elephant expansion is finally complete and open. Elephants are spread over 2 yards instead of 3 now. Bulls are in the newer yard, cows in the older one previously opened. Word is 2 cows are pregnant and on active baby watch now. The last calf, Duncan, was born 3 years ago.

Moving forward, African Forest 3 is being delayed until after the centennial. The next project is a revamp of the Cypress Circle eateries. After that projects include:
-Orangutan refresh (nothing major, just a clean up and update, especially behind the scenes, no new land)
-Bird update. No idea what this includes
-South America, this is going over the hoofstock by birds and the children zoo. Tapirs, giant river otters are what I've heard. Jaguar relocation is a question mark. They want to move them, but it's budget dependent. Current jaguar enclosure was updated in 2010 or 2011. Moving the South American animals does open up the area by African Forest for more expansions of that theme.
-Sea Lions. It's long rumored. It's happening, but it's last of the smaller projects before the centennial.

The centennial is 192 ... something. Not sure exactly what year it opened. Early 1920s.
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Surprised to hear about the pregnant elephants. I was at the zoo last week and went to the elephant talk, but she didn't mention pregnancy. Anyway, the exhibit expansion was nice. I like the viewing area in front of the new pool.

The future updates sound really cool. Giant river otters would be neat. Any idea what they're gonna do with the sea lion exhibit?
 
Trowaman said:
Word is 2 cows are pregnant and on active baby watch now. The last calf, Duncan, was born 3 years ago.
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I have to agree with this. I know for a fact one of their cows is pregnant (rather obviously so), but that's good to hear the other one is as well!
 
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