Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth

With over 4,500 animals and critters housed in the Houston Zoo, it is easy to see why over 1.5 million animal-loving visitors arrive every year in downtown Houston, Texas, to view the animals. Fully experiencing natural events and family entertainment, a naturalistic environment has been carefully developed over the years that teach education, respect, and conservation awareness.

With a mission statement consisting of "fun, unique and inspirational experiences for the natural world", the Houston Zoo is designed for all ages and cultures to offer every person who arrives, the chance to see unique animals up close. Where else can a visitor look into the eyes of animals with a natural habitat from the other side of the world, observing their individual personality, observe them in a carefully prepared habitat similar to their natural settings, and to better understand and appreciate who they are?

Originating around 1905, Sam Houston Park became Houston's first zoo—filled with rabbits, raccoons, one black bear, a great horned owl, prairie dogs, Mexican eagles, and the first alligator pond in the area. With more and more animals being donated to the park, things came to a head when the Federal government donated a bison by the name of Earl in 1920. A civic debate began at this time whether or not the zoo should be improved and expanded, with a fence eventually being erected around land in Hermann Park, with another animal purchase of snakes, birds, and more alligators adding to the growing numbers of zoo animals. Hans Nagel became the city's first Zoo Keeper, hired to care for more than 40 animals in this Texas growing establishment.