The Houston Zoo, a top destination for over two million visitors annually, is ready to welcome young animal enthusiasts this summer. Kids will love meeting the zoo's newest residents, including adorable newborns and fascinating arrivals who have joined the zoo as part of important breeding programs. The Houston Zoo is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and participates in the Species Survival Plan(SSP), a program that oversees the population of select species within AZA member organizations to ensure a genetically diverse, demographically varied, and a biologically sound population. By visiting these new faces at the Zoo, guests are helping to save animals in the wild, since a portion of each Zoo membership and ticket supports the Zoo’s conservation partners worldwide.
Im”pasta”bly cute Capybaras
In April, the Zoo welcomed five new capybaras who have affectionately been named after popular pasta varieties. Guests can see Bowtie, Ravioli, Rigatoni, Macaroni, and Gnocchi when they visit them in the South America’s Pantanal exhibit. Capybaras are the largest rodent in the world, and their name means “master of the grasses.” When pups are born, they have fur, open eyes, and a complete set of teeth. They grow and learn very fast. Capybaras communicate by scent and through various vocalizations, including growls, whinnies, alarm barks, whistles, and a frequent guttural purr emitted by the infant.
Guests who visit Bowtie, Ravioli, Rigatoni, Macaroni, and Gnocchi are helping save wild capybara families in Brazil. The Zoo supports their Brazilian conservation partners in protecting wildlife from fires and finding solutions to prevent animals from being hit by cars on major roads across the region.
Tiny Tino
Tino, the Masai giraffe, was born overnight on April 27 after his keepers kept a watchful eye on his mom, Kamili, during her 14-month pregnancy. Dad, Zawadi, came to the Zoo in 2022 at the recommendation of AZA’s Masai Giraffe SSP. Tino stood at an impressive six feet tall at birth and weighed approximately 160 pounds. As he matures, Tino could reach a height nearly matching or surpassing his 16-foot-tall father.
Guests can see Tino with the rest of the giraffe herd in the McGovern Giraffe Habitat and feed the rest of the herd during one of the two daily public feedings at 11 a.m. or 2 p.m. By doing so; guests are helping to save wild giraffes in Africa. The Zoo provides funds for local people in Africa to protect giraffes in the wild. These funds pay salaries to those arresting illegal hunters, provide medical support, and watch over wild giraffes in Africa.
Welcome home, Chuck
Houston Zoo has welcomed a 9,500-pound addition to its Asian elephant herd packed with personality, 15-year-old Asian elephant Chuck. Chuck spent the last six years with Denver Zoo’s bull herd of Asian elephants and is now ready for his next adventure, where he will have the opportunity to meet and mingle with the ladies next door in the cow yard. Until then, Chuck is spending time getting to know his new herd, Thailand (58), Tucker (19), and Nelson (4). Chuck is a social butterfly who enjoys being around other elephants and never wants to miss out on the fun. If he thinks other elephants are having fun without him, he vocalizes and kicks his feet to show his feelings. Chuck is a high-energy, very intelligent, and affectionate elephant.
Houston Zoo helps protect an estimated 250 wild elephants in Asia. The Zoo provides equipment, training, and support for Malaysian elephant conservationists working to protect elephants in and around palm oil plantations. Palm oil is a common ingredient in everyday items like soap and snack foods, and it is grown in areas where elephants roam. The Zoo also purchases trees for people in Borneo to replant in palm oil plantations to create forested paths for wildlife. By visiting and supporting Houston Zoo, guests are helping the Zoo replant more than 300,000 trees in Borneo to save Asian elephants in the wild.
A “cheeky” wild ONE
A Houston Zoo first has turned one year old. Marv, a male northern white-cheeked gibbon, celebrated his first birthday on May 30. Born to first-time parents, Ting and Max, Marv is the first northern white-cheeked gibbon born at the Houston Zoo. White-cheeked gibbons have a lot of unique features, including being dimorphic in fur color. All white-cheeked gibbons are born a cream color so they can camouflage when they cling to their mom. Their fur changes to black when they are about two years old, and at that point, they develop their iconic white cheek patches. Males will stay black, while females will revert to the cream color.
Another way to tell gibbons apart from other primates is through their exceptionally long arms. White-cheeked gibbons have the longest arm length relative to body size of any primate. Their arms are longer than their legs, which helps them swing from tree to tree.
Northern white-cheeked gibbons are native to southeast Asia, Vietnam, and Southern China and are critically endangered in the wild. Their numbers have declined by 80% over the past 45 years, primarily due to habitat loss and poaching. Houston Zoo helps wild species like the white-cheeked gibbon in Asia. The Zoo helps equip anti-poaching patrols, protects and restores habitat through reforestation initiatives led by locals, and provides expert veterinary care to heal and rehabilitate sick and injured primates. houstonzoo.org
By visiting these new faces at the Zoo, guests are helping to save animals in the wild. A portion of each Zoo membership and ticket supports the Zoo’s conservation partners worldwide.
Houston Zoo helps wild species like the white-cheeked gibbon in Asia through habitat restoration, veterinary care and anti-poaching patrols.