Houston, TX

Houston Zoo

Address: 6200 Hermann Park Dr., Houston TX 77030 - MAP
Phone: (713) 533-6500
Web: www.houstonzoo.org

The Houston Zoo is home to more than 4,500 animals in a 55-acre park within downtown Houston. More than 900 species are represented, and the zoo is the seventh most-visited zoo in the nation.

In the early 1900s, the city zoo was located in Sam Houston Park and boasted an assortment of monkeys, prairie dogs and an alligator pond.

The growing collection through the years spurred the city to improve and expand the Houston Zoo.

Featured areas now include the Kipp Aquarium, The Fischer Bird Gardens, Tropical Bird House, a Children's Zoo with a petting zoo and water playground, the World of Primates, Wildlife Carousel, the McNair Asian Elephant Habitat and the Reptile & Amphibian Building.

The latest addition to the zoo is the African Forest, a $100 million project that will transform 6.5 acres into a wilderness habitat featuring chimpanzees, rhinos, and giraffes in a forest environment typically seen in western Africa.