In 2022, the Houston Zoo celebrated its 100th anniversary.
View HighlightsIt all started with a bison named Earl. Read about the history of the Zoo’s 100 years.
Read MoreAs we wrap up our Centennial, the Zoo is completing the most dramatic transformation in our history.
Learn More
In 2022, the Houston Zoo celebrated its 100th anniversary.
View HighlightsIt all started with a bison named Earl. Read about the history of the Zoo’s 100 years.
Read MoreAs we wrap up our Centennial, the Zoo is completing the most dramatic transformation in our history.
Learn More1920-1929
1930-1949
1950-1969
1970-1999
2000-2022
It all began with a bison named Earl. In 1922, the City of Houston built a fence around a tract of land in Hermann Park to house Earl and an eclectic collection of animals. On one momentous day in April, the Houston Zoo opened to the public. This small fence grew, and grew some more, over the nearly 100 years, and is now the 55-acre Houston Zoo we know today.
Earl the bison was originally part of a government herd in Cache, Oklahoma, brought back to the plains from the Bronx Zoo and was one of many buffalo sold or gifted to different cities throughout the country. He was just under two years old when he arrived in Houston. The city immediately began working to find a mate for him; Lizzie arrived soon after. By the beginning of the twentieth century, mass slaughter, sport hunting, and land encroachment brought the population from 30–60 million buffalo to just over 1,000. By the 1920s, the number was up to 20,000.
This aerial view of Hermann Park was taken in the early 20s and highlights what would eventually become the Houston Zoo’s colonnade and reflection pool. The aviary is visible on the left. And if you look closely, there is a camel and an elephant in the foreground.
The Houston Post-Dispatch initiated a campaign in September 1924 to purchase the city’s first elephant and children and their families dug deep into their pockets and donated over $500 of the total $2,000 needed. The city’s parks board provided $1,000 and the remaining $500 was donated by the South Texas Commercial National Bank. Nellie became the Zoo’s first elephant in 1924.
The Zoo’s population explodes with animals, including a nine-foot-long alligator driven up to Houston in the back of a citizen’s car from La Porte. In addition, African lions Lizzie and Caesar are prolific, and Lizzie gives birth to several babies.
Inside the Zoo, the new aviary is built and is quickly filled with birds. Also, Nagel’s new big cat arena is up and running and he gives regular cat-taming demonstrations
The Great Depression hit the US hard, and the Houston Zoo was no different. The Zoo narrowly avoids closure and made plans for modernization after WWII. As the years progressed the Zoo and its staff did what they could to make sure the animals stayed fed and healthy.
From 1921 to his untimely death in November of 1941, Hans Nagel literally gave all his energy to the Houston Zoo. Understanding the nature of publicity, Nagel never missed an opportunity to promote the Zoo and leveraged his national recognition as a fearless showman and his eager, charismatic personality to keep the Zoo in operation, even in the leanest and meanest times of the Great Depression.
This is an actual Houston Zoo postcard from 1933 that was mailed to a Philadelphia resident. The front features several Zoo animals, including elephants Nellie and Hans.
In 1946, the cougar was named the official mascot of the University of Houston. In 1947 the Alpha Phi Omega fraternity raised funds to bring a live cougar to Houston. A contest was held to name the animal, and a student won with the entry “Shasta.” The current Shasta came to the Houston Zoo after a hunter illegally shot and killed his mother in Washington State. Shasta VI was rescued and transported to the Houston Zoo on December 11, 2011. Shasta acts as an ambassador for his counterparts in the wild while faithfully representing the spirit of the University of Houston.
The Zoo became the new home of a Galápagos tortoise-rearing experiment that was originally based in New York. The tortoises couldn’t stand the cold, so they were brought to Houston where they thrived. A special pen was created for them and some were housed in the new aviary.
Expansion and revitalization of the Zoo takes the spotlight in the 50s and 60s with a renewed interest in building new and more modern facilities for the animals.
Mayor Holcombe announced at the beginning of the year that the city should expect $700k worth of improvements to the Zoo, including the Primate House, which opened in October 1950 and offered “modern luxuries” such as central heat. The new, modern building would be home to seventy animals.
The Reptile House opened Feb 25, 1961, with the event hosted by curator John Werler, and attended by Houston Mayor Louis Cutrer. Houstonian Irving R. Klein was the designer. It had housing for approximately 250 animals, with 100 glass-fronted cases for public viewing, additional cases for housing, and a special demonstration pit. The Zoo was the only facility in the US to have a Russian cobra, a snorkel viper from Formosa, and a pair of Mexican tree frogs.
In 1967, the Junior League of Houston adopted the Zoo as a cause, buying the first ZooMobile, cameras, and other materials for $17,000. The ZooMobile would be used to visit schools and fairs as a mobile exhibit space. The vehicle was owned by the Zoo but run by volunteers, with the visits free for students
In 1967, the Houston Zoo became home to what was likely the only St. Vincent parrot in the United States at the time. The birds were in danger of becoming extinct. Houston Mayor Welch and Zoo officials worked with St. Vincent Island’s chief minister to get permission to ship the parrot with the goal of establishing a breeding colony in Houston to conserve the species.
Zoos across the country begin coordinating animal breeding programs in earnest and with accreditation by the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums (now Association of Zoos and Aquariums), Houston Zoo becomes a leader in the endeavor. Global efforts at conservation pop up around the world.
Indigenous to Harris County and surrounds, the tiny Houston toad was once prolific, but populations had fallen to such a point that, in 1970, it was listed as an endangered species and was the first protected amphibians under the Federal Endangered Species Act when it passed in 1973. A Houston toad recovery team came together in 1978 and a recovery plan was published in 1984. The Houston Zoo was a key partner until the late ’80s. In 2007, the Houston toad was once again identified as being in severe decline and the Zoo rejoined the fight, becoming a key breeder and releasing young toads and eggs into the wild. Today, the Zoo releases around one million eggs each year.
The Cooley Foundation, along with the Zoological Society, funded the construction of the 9,000-square-foot state-of-the-art Denton A. Cooley veterinary hospital at the Zoo, named after the famous doctor and founder of the foundation which opened in 1985.
The Houston Zoo has operated a sea turtle rescue, rehabilitation, and release program for more than thirty years, with Dr. Joe Flanagan, senior veterinarian, who continues to play a critical role in the program.
With a lead gift from the Wortham Foundation, the $7.5 million Wortham World of Primates opened in 1993. Designed by Jones and Jones, it was considered to be the first of the Zoo’s “modern, immersive habitats.”
The Houston Zoo is one of four zoos to breed and release these birds in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Zoo’s breeding program is located on the grounds of NASA’s Johnson Space Center, on a plot of land that resembles their natural habitat of the coastal prairie. The eggs are incubated, and the chicks are raised until they are large enough to pass a medical evaluation. Once they have been medically cleared, they are released back into the wild to join existing populations. Since 1995, the Houston Zoo has raised and released over 1,400 Attwater’s prairie chickens into the wild.
In 2002 the Zoo became a private non-profit organization with a 50-year lease and operating agreement from the City of Houston. This public/private partnership has proven to be mutually beneficial for everyone and allowed the Zoo to undertake the most ambitious scope of improvements in its entire history.
With a lead gift from the John P. McGovern Foundation, the Zoo opened the new McGovern Children’s Zoo in 2000. The $6 million expansion has been a favorite of generations of Houston’s children as they get nose-to-nose with mongoose, North American river otters, bats, and interact with goats in the ever-popular goat yard.
Zoo initiates affiliation with Dr. Pati Medici, and her team at the Lowland Tapir Conservation Initiative to protect tapirs in Brazil, thus launching our modern conservation program.
With a generous gift from Ethel G. Carruth, in February 2005 the Zoo opened a new small mammal exhibit, Ethel G. and Allen H. Carruth Natural Encounters, which was honored in 2007 with a Significant Achievement for Exhibit Design by AZA’s Honors and Awards Committee. This was a redesign of the Small Mammal House which originally opened in 1962.
With support from the Dan L. Duncan Foundation, the Zoo’s veterinarians and elephant care team established a research collaboration in 2009 with herpes virologist Dr. Paul Ling at Baylor College of Medicine’s Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, which recorded significant advancements in the study of elephant endotheliotropic herpesviruses (EEHV), and toward a vaccine. The Houston Zoo’s EEHV testing methods, treatment protocols, and experience serve as a global elephant care resource and have contributed to saving elephant calves around the world.
Late in 2010, the first phase of the African Forest, which included new giraffe, rhino, and chimpanzee habitats as well as Shani Market gift shop and Twiga Café, was opened—a product of a $50 million capital campaign. In 2015 the Zoo opened the new Gorillas of the African Forest. This highly anticipated, state-of-the-art habitat connects Houstonians to the lush forests of Africa in a full-sensory experience and highlights the Zoo’s conservation work in Africa. The two-acre complex houses western lowland gorillas and red river hogs in a first-of-its-kind mixed species habitat.
With the retirement of CEO and president Deborah Cannon, and former Zoo director Rick Barongi, a new era of leadership began at the Houston Zoo in late 2015 with the hiring of Lee Ehmke as the Zoo’s CEO and president. Ehmke joined the Houston Zoo from his position of the same title at Minnesota Zoo. Ehmke will oversee a strategic and master plan coupled with a $150 million capital campaign, with a major emphasis on creating immersive, natural habitats that reflect the Zoo’s conservation partnerships.
With support from the Robert and Janice McNair Foundation, the McNair Asian Elephant Habitat grew to become a 3.5-acre complex in 2017 with a 6,500-square-foot barn custom-built to house the bull elephants and an expansive new habitat that features a boardwalk with an unobstructed view of the elephants in their new yard and their nearly 160,000-gallon pool.
Kathrine G. McGovern Texas Wetlands opened on Friday, May 24, 2019. The Texas Wetlands brings together three native Texas species—bald eagles, whooping cranes, and American alligators—in a lush wetland habitat. Thanks to the Endangered Species Act and the efforts of Texans, these three species, once close to extinction, now thrive in the Lone Star State. The exhibit won AZA top honors for exhibits.
The Houston Zoo’s latest master plan project, South America’s Pantanal, opened to the public Saturday, October 10, 2020. The 4.2-acre multispecies environment is the second in a series of new habitats the Houston Zoo is planning. The lush habitat highlights animals the Zoo is protecting in the wild alongside partners in Brazil, including for the first time at the Houston Zoo, giant river otters.
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