Houston Zoo Houston Zoo News 2024

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Julio C Castro said:
An expansion of the Asian Elephant habitat will most likely be next. Found a page from their Strategic Plan for a few years ago and shows some potential renovations/new projects.View attachment 737191
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It's a good idea to expand the Asian Elephant habitat and thanks for posting those plans. However, now that director Lee Ehmke is retiring, after having overseen a $156 million overhaul of Houston Zoo, anything in that old strategic plan can probably be tossed out the window. Sometimes new zoo directors work with existing ideas, but it's more common to see a fresh overview with different plans.
 
snowleopard said:
It's a good idea to expand the Asian Elephant habitat and thanks for posting those plans. However, now that director Lee Ehmke is retiring, after having overseen a $156 million overhaul of Houston Zoo, anything in that old strategic plan can probably be tossed out the window. Sometimes new zoo directors work with existing ideas, but it's more common to see a fresh overview with different plans.
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You’re right, I didn’t think of that :/ Hopefully the essence of Lee Ehmke’s master plan continues on. He oversaw one of the greatest master plans in recent years. We got Texas Wetlands, Pantanal, Galápagos Islands, and now Birds of the World. All fantastic additions and amongst the best of their kind.
 
Julio C Castro said:
An expansion of the Asian Elephant habitat will most likely be next. Found a page from their Strategic Plan for a few years ago and shows some potential renovations/new projects.View attachment 737191
Click to expand...
I really hope that the plan for Nile Hippos comes into place because the number of holders in North America is declining, and it would be great to see Houston bring them back, though it I had to guess it would still be at least another decade away before it happens.
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
What has basically been the timeline for the specifically named areas and the current age of the exhibitry in these precincts?
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The Wortham World of Primates opened in 1993 - the McNair Asian Elephant Habitat opened in phases, with an initial expansion that opened in 2008 for the cows (I believe that was the new barn), another expansion for the cows which opened in 2011, and *another expansion* which opened in 2017 for the bulls. The Reptile House I believe dates back to the 1950s.
 
TheImmigrant1 said:
Exclusive: Houston Zoo President and CEO Lee Ehmke announces retirement

Article posted about two weeks ago on Lee Ehmke’s retirement next year.
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I'm a bit late to this news, but I still wanted to give my thoughts. Lee Emke has been one of the greatest zoo directors of the past decade, and has overseen the construction of some of the best exhibits to come out of the last few years, such as Russia's Grizzly Coast (2008) at the Minnesota Zoo, and both South America's Pantanal (2020), and the Galapagos Islands (2023) at Houston. Ever since becoming it's director in 2017, he has transformed the Houston Zoo into one of the best in the country .I've always been envious after Emke's departure from Minnesota and Houston's subsequent progress under his leadership, as his 2012 master plan for the Minnesota Zoo would have been quite exciting, especially when compared to the current state of the zoo. He did a great job leading both zoos over the past 20 years, and I hope he enjoys his well-deserved retirement!
 
Julio C Castro said:
An expansion of the Asian Elephant habitat will most likely be next. Found a page from their Strategic Plan for a few years ago and shows some potential renovations/new projects.View attachment 737191
Click to expand...
I would say that out of what’s on their strategic plan the Madagascar and children’s zoo Texas sounds like the most interesting exhibits to come in the future and that’s my opinion.
 
A few updates from my visit:

  • All of the amphibians are off-display in the reptile house with the exception of the Houston Toads
  • The Black Mambas were breeding, really cool behavior to see!
  • Keel-Billed Toucans, Guinan Toucanets, and Curl-Crested Aracari now live in the smaller enclosures at World of Primates.
  • Natural Encounters felt gutted with The sloth, pygmy marmosets, and saki were off exhibit, the Piranha tank empty and drained, the former african bird exhibit empty and gutted, and the Green Puffer tank also empty. A worker there also told me that the Prevost's Squirrel is old and it may of passed away when I asked about it, she didn't know for sure. It really feels like they are getting ready to redo this exhibit, I know at one point it was meant to become a Madagascar themed exhibit, with the new leadership I wonder if that's still the plan.
  • A few of the stick insect species in the bug house only had young individuals on display, so I was wondering if the adults died off or if these are new arrivals, the species list changed a decent bit since my last visit in 2021, tempted to make a species list.
  • A few animals were under medical watch, the Monocled Cobra has a growth on its neck that is reoccuring and the Red Pandas are experiencing allergies that causes some of their fur to fall out.
  • The fish in the Pantanal exhibit were off display.
  • Only one Giant River Otter(Marley) was out today, I now the zoo had more, not sure if they still do.
  • The new bird exhibits are nice, they will be even better when more animals are added, but still wish that some asian, australain, and european species got highlighted after all it is "Birds of the World".
  • Akobi the new Pygmy Hippo is settling in well, he was sleeping on some sand during my visit, surprised that the blue duiker and guineafowl are still signed on exhibit(though i didn't see them.)
  • Lisa the Amur Leopard has also settled in nicely and was the most active of the big cats that day
  • A Leopard Tortoise replaced the Swift Fox in the Children's Zoo.
  • The Babirusa yard is now home to Radiated Tortoises
  • The former tortoise habitat now just has two unsigned Sulcata Tortoises.
  • At the beginning of the day, the Ring-Tailed Lemur habitat was blocked off but was open a few hours later so not sure what was occurring there.
  • Construction on Jack's cafe is coming along nicely, a few of the sea lions were seemingly in a competition with the power tools on who can be louder haha.
 
King of Komodo Dragons said:
A few updates from my visit:

  • All of the amphibians are off-display in the reptile house with the exception of the Houston Toads
  • The Black Mambas were breeding, really cool behavior to see!
  • Keel-Billed Toucans, Guinan Toucanets, and Curl-Crested Aracari now live in the smaller enclosures at World of Primates.
  • Natural Encounters felt gutted with The sloth, pygmy marmosets, and saki were off exhibit, the Piranha tank empty and drained, the former african bird exhibit empty and gutted, and the Green Puffer tank also empty. A worker there also told me that the Prevost's Squirrel is old and it may of passed away when I asked about it, she didn't know for sure. It really feels like they are getting ready to redo this exhibit, I know at one point it was meant to become a Madagascar themed exhibit, with the new leadership I wonder if that's still the plan.
  • A few of the stick insect species in the bug house only had young individuals on display, so I was wondering if the adults died off or if these are new arrivals, the species list changed a decent bit since my last visit in 2021, tempted to make a species list.
  • A few animals were under medical watch, the Monocled Cobra has a growth on its neck that is reoccuring and the Red Pandas are experiencing allergies that causes some of their fur to fall out.
  • The fish in the Pantanal exhibit were off display.
  • Only one Giant River Otter(Marley) was out today, I now the zoo had more, not sure if they still do.
  • The new bird exhibits are nice, they will be even better when more animals are added, but still wish that some asian, australain, and european species got highlighted after all it is "Birds of the World".
  • Akobi the new Pygmy Hippo is settling in well, he was sleeping on some sand during my visit, surprised that the blue duiker and guineafowl are still signed on exhibit(though i didn't see them.)
  • Lisa the Amur Leopard has also settled in nicely and was the most active of the big cats that day
  • A Leopard Tortoise replaced the Swift Fox in the Children's Zoo.
  • The Babirusa yard is now home to Radiated Tortoises
  • The former tortoise habitat now just has two unsigned Sulcata Tortoises.
  • At the beginning of the day, the Ring-Tailed Lemur habitat was blocked off but was open a few hours later so not sure what was occurring there.
  • Construction on Jack's cafe is coming along nicely, a few of the sea lions were seemingly in a competition with the power tools on who can be louder haha.
Click to expand...
It was neat to see the Cape Coral Snake in the middle loop of the reptile house. Which I am sure is one of the newer species at the zoo.
 
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