I was lucky enough to visit the Houston Zoo on my recent trip to Texas's largest city and boy, was I impressed! Let me start off by admitting my ambivalence about zoos in terms of what's best for the animals kept in them, the prison-like enclosures in some zoos, and all the troubling ethical stuff that goes along with them. Also, in the interest of full disclosure, I volunteered at the National Zoo here in D.C. as a docent for two years and have come to see zoos' purpose, and, more importantly, the role of the animals kept within them, as that of ambassadors; the zoo, an embassy to the natural world. With exposure comes education and understanding and from that basis, respect for the natural world and its animals develops, hopefully spurring an impulse to conserve and protect in those who visit zoos, especially children.That said, the Houston Zoo, all 55 acres of it, knocked my socks off--especially the cheetah exhibit, where I saw two full-grown male cheetahs chase after balls with two keepers, armed only with wooden shepherds' crooks. While one keeper explained to the crowd that the cheetahs haven't yet learned to truly fetch, a cheetah sauntered up to her hand, ball clenched in his mouth, asking for another toss to chase after.
I contacted Brian Hill, director of PR for the zoo, and he informed me the cheetahs are just part of an exhibit that includes Anatolian shepherds (dogs!) who were introduced to the cheetahs when they were young. Hill tells me that the unlikely pairing of cheetahs and shepherds has worked well and that "they enjoy each others' company and allow keepers to tell a unique conservation story, how Anatolian shepherds have saved cheetahs in Namibia" where goat herders and ranchers use the pups to guard their herds from the cheetahs to obviate the need to shoot or poison the cheetahs.
The zoo features many other animals, of course. Some of my favorites
were the Asian small-clawed otters in the Natural Encounters building.
Their enclosure was built so that visitors can see their frantic play
both on land and below the water. The Wortham World of Primates was
also impressive and contains 70 Great Apes and monkeys. The exhibit
opens with lemurs, the most primitive of the primates, and winds its
way through the woods to a big orangutan exhibit, bordered by a pond
chock-full of chubby koi.
The
zoo works hard to engage visitors, leading 20-30 interactive
presentations every day. They're also making changes to green their
facility. Last April the zoo installed solar panels at the African lion
exhibit, which provide one-third of the exhibit's energy needs. Their
conservation department is engaged in global conservation efforts of
orangs and pygmy elephants in Borneo, amphibians in Panama, and sea
turtles, black bears, and Attwater's prairie chickens closer to home in
the Lone Star state.
IT wants to know: Have you visited the Houston Zoo? What were your impressions? What's your favorite zoo? How do you feel about zoos in general? Are they really embassies to the natural world or antiquated animal menageries from a past age?
And remember to vote TODAY for us for Best Travel Blog!
Photos: courtesy Houston Zoo
The
zoo works hard to engage visitors, leading 20-30 interactive
presentations every day. They're also making changes to green their
facility. Last April the zoo installed solar panels at the African lion
exhibit, which provide one-third of the exhibit's energy needs. Their
conservation department is engaged in global conservation efforts of
orangs and pygmy elephants in Borneo, amphibians in Panama, and sea
turtles, black bears, and Attwater's prairie chickens closer to home in
the Lone Star state.IT wants to know: Have you visited the Houston Zoo? What were your impressions? What's your favorite zoo? How do you feel about zoos in general? Are they really embassies to the natural world or antiquated animal menageries from a past age?
And remember to vote TODAY for us for Best Travel Blog!
Photos: courtesy Houston Zoo
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Truly one of the top zoos in the country. I have visited many and the Houston Zoo is not only a beautiful zoo to visit but there are so many interactions with the animals. The Lion window and feeding is amazing!
Hi... Just seen your comment on the blog carnival about my post "Green heart of Mexico City"... thanks for visiting and stop by again..
i remember the days when the houston zoo was FREE! and they had a great petting zoo, complete with a camel named Wanda. it's still great :) and it's free on MLK day...
Its a great zoo but I'd like to see Snow Leopords, Hyenas and Hippos and some other animals added to it. Also some big cats are caged with glass which reflects the sun back into your eyes to its hard to get a good look at the animals.
Houston really does have one of the best zoos. I had so much fun and really enjoyed it there.
Unfortunately, in India we can not visit the zoo like this photograph.
Shail
Agra India
As usual, the pictures here are beautiful. I've not visited the Houston zoo (however, it really does look intriguing). I'm partial to the National zoo here in Washington DC.
Many zoos seem to get caught up in having great exhibits of the animals, but forget the "education" portion of their mission. It's a fine line of having nice enough exhibits (for the visitors and animals benefit) and education of the visitors about the animals they are viewing.
Truly one of the top zoos in the country. I have visited many and the Houston Zoo is not only a beautiful zoo to visit but there are so many interactions with the animals. The Lion window and feeding is amazing!
oooowww... so cute pics thanks!!