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The Houston Zoo is a 55 acre zoological park located within Hermann Park in Houston, Texas, United States. The zoo houses over 6,000 animals as a part of over 900 species that the zoo has to offer, and receives 1.6 million visitors each year and is the seventh most visited zoo in the United States. The zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).

The Houston Zoo's mission statement is "The Houston Zoo provides a fun, unique, and inspirational experience fostering appreciation, knowledge, and care for the natural world."

Since 2002 the non-profit corporation Houston Zoo Inc. has operated the zoo.

History
On the edge of downtown in the early 1900s, Sam Houston Park was home to the city’s first zoo – a collection of a variety of animals including rabbits, raccoons, Mexican eagles, black bear, a great horned owl, capuchin monkeys, prairie dogs, and an alligator pond. In 1920, the Federal government donated a bison to the City of Houston. The bison, named Earl, was added to the growing collection of zoo animals at Sam Houston Park and sparked a civic debate as Houstonians began talking earnestly about improving and expanding the zoo.

In 1921, the City purchased an assortment of snakes, birds, and alligators and in 1922 erected a fence around a tract of land in Hermann Park to house the collection. In short order the City hired the first zoo keeper, Hans Nagel who was responsible for the care of the Zoo’s 40 animals. By 1925, Nagel had become zoo director and the Zoo’s population had grown to 400 animals including Asian elephants Nellie and Hans. The zoo grew to thirty fenced acres and included a monkey house and a pool built for three donated sea lions.

As more years passed, the city kept adding animals, keepers, and exhibits. Between 1925 and 1938 a museum, lion house, and an elephant house were built. By 1938, the Zoo represented an investment of approximately $50,000, roughly equivalent to $750,000 by today’s standards. In the immediate post World War Two era, from 1950 to 1960 the Zoo added the Reptile House, bear, large cats, and giraffe exhibits and completed the sea lion pool, Duck Lake and the Central Concession building.

The period from 1960 to 1970 saw a revived era of construction and expansion with the construction of the Zoo’s first Children’s Zoo, the Small Mammal House (now the Natural Encounters Building), and the Tropical Bird House. Between 1970 and 1976, under the guidance of then-director John Werler, education became increasingly emphasized and a group of 125 volunteers was organized to interact with guests and provide information about animals and exhibits.

The 1980s brought construction of the Kipp Aquarium and the Denton Cooley Animal Hospital. Between 1985 and 1988, the Zoo completed construction of the African lion, Indochinese tiger and small cat exhibits. The Brown Education Center was dedicated in April 1988.

In January, 1989, after being accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the Houston Zoo initiated its first public admission fee and introduced a “new zoo” to the City. Nearly $1 million in improvements were unveiled including the new McGovern Mammal Marina for sea lions and a newly renovated Reptile House.

The $7.5 million Wortham World of Primates opened in 1993 and in 1995 the Zoo celebrated its 75th anniversary. The 1990s saw the renovation of the Tropical Bird House, the expansion of the Kipp Aquarium and the construction of a new gift shop and office facility at the Zoo’s main entrance. The Zoo’s Koala Crossing opened in 1999 and the new $6 million McGovern Children’s Zoo made its debut in 2000 along with the zoo’s new West Entry (now Medical Center Gate).

In 2002, the Houston Zoo entered a new era of non-profit management under a public-private partnership with the City of Houston and improvements and new exhibits quickly followed.

In April 2003, the zoo opened the giant eland exhibit, becoming the first zoo in Texas to exhibit these regal animals, the world’s largest antelope. In 2003, the zoo reopened the spectacled bear exhibit following a $1 million renovation. The Wildlife Carousel opened near the Children’s zoo in 2004 and in 2005 the Zoo opened the Natural Encounters Building, representing a new approach to zoo exhibitry with interactive keeper chats and presentations every half-hour. In 2006, summers in the McGovern Children’s Zoo took on a new look with the addition of a water playground. In 2008, the zoo welcomed African wild dogs opened an expanded Asian elephant habitat.

The zoo did not have admission fees until 1988, when they were first established by former mayor Kathryn J. Whitmire.

The newest project is the African Forest, a $100 million project that took years to complete; the first phase was completed in December 2010. The African Forest vividly recreates an awe-inspiring wilderness habitat featuring chimpanzees, rhinos, and giraffes in an environment reminiscent of the forest landscape of western equatorial Africa.

Exhibits and facilities

 * The Reptile and Amphibian Building, constructed in 1960, is the primary facility for reptile and amphibian species. It contains eighty separate displays housing 900 animals, and a total of over 140 retile species and over 40 amphibian species. The house includes one of only fourteen white alligators in existence, Blanco. Some animals include dart frogs, Burmese pythons, snakes, kimono dragons, and chameleons.
 * The John P. McGovern Children's Zoo provides animal habitats designed to allow guests to get closer to the animals with a special focus on native Texas wildlife. Exhibits include a bat cave, a bald eagle roost, prairie dog tunnels, a coastal pool, a butterfly pavilion, and a glass-walled otter habitat where guests can see the otters swimming. The children's zoo includes an area where children can touch and pet domestic animals such as goats and cows. The water play area of the Children's Zoo was permanently closed in 2011. A new water play area will be constructed just inside the west entrance to the zoo.
 * The Wildlife Carousel found just outside of the Children's Zoo was opened May 1, 2004 and features hand carved wooden animals of exotic and native species many of which can be found at the zoo. It is the only carousel to feature the nine-banded armadillo as a carousel figure. The animals were carved by craftsmen from Carousel Works based in Mansfield, Ohio.
 * ""Birds'' The zoo houses 900 specimens of over 250 species of birds, and 800 individual birds in multiple facilities, including the Fischer Bird Gardens, Duck Lake, Birds of the World, and the Tropical Bird House which includes an open-air, walk through aviary.
 * ""Aquarium"" Over 200 species, and 2,000 individual fish and marine animals from around the world are housed in the Herbert A. & Elizabeth N. Kipp Memorial Aquarium. Some animals include sea turtles, clownfish, lion fish, piranhas, jellyfish, seahorses, and various corals.
 * Janice Suber McNair Asian Elephant Habitat On June 22, 2008, the Houston Zoo celebrated the completion of the first phase of the new elephant facility at the Asian Elephant Habitat. The 7000 sqft elephant barn, additional outdoor areas, and an improved 200- seated viewing area are the first phase of a two-phase program to expand the elephant habitat at the Zoo. Phase two of the elephant expansion was completed in October 2011 and featured a large new exhibit yard to supplement the two existing yards, a pool big enough for multiple elephants, new interpretive signage, and a small area for demonstration of husbandry behaviors. The exhibit is home to adult bull Thai, adult cows Methai, Shanti, and Tess, juvenile bull Tucker (Tess' son), and calves Baylor (Shanti's son) and Tupelo (Tess' daughter). The elephants include: Thai, Menthai, Shanti, Tess, Tucker, Tupelo, and Baylor.
 * Located in the heart of the Zoo, Wortham World of Primates offers up close viewing of some of the world’s most fascinating and intelligent creatures. The area features a raised wooden boardwalk that allows guests to view exhibits from multiple levels. Some animals include: lemurs, mandrills, mangabeys, siamangs, howler monkeys, tamarins, and orangutans.
 * The Ethel G. and Allen H. Carruth Natural Encounters Building, opened in 2005, allows you to come face to face with endangered species, and contains multi-species exhibits representing seven different ecosystems, including the River's Edge, Rainforest Canopy, Dry Lands, the Coral Reef, a bat cave, mole rat tunnels, sloth, tamarin, and a meerkat habitat.
 * The African Forest Phase one opened in December 2010. Covering 6.5 acre of woodland, it features chimpanzees, rhinos, kudu, and giraffes. By incorporating storytelling revolving around an original character named Gorilla Tommy, who started life as a poacher and later became a conservationist, the exhibit develops multiple layers of interpretation and enjoyment.  The African Forest allows visitors to explore and learn in different ways – through traditional signage, interactive elements, and up-close viewing of the animals including daily opportunities to hand feed the Zoo's giraffes.

Conservation
The zoo is an active partner in the AZA's Species Survival Plan (SSP) Program, a population management and conservation program for selected species housed in North American zoos.

The zoo supports forty SSP conservation projects that assist in the survival of threatened wildlife and habitats. Wildlife conservation projects include the Houston Toad, Wyoming Toad, golden frog, Attwater's Prairie Chicken, chimney swift, Bornean orangutans and Asian elephants, Komodo dragon, Malayan tiger, Spectacled bear, Clouded leopard, lions, red panda and numerous other endangered animals.

Curators of the zoo are involved with the AZA Taxon Advisory Groups, animal experts responsible for making recommendations and evaluations for rearing of species at other zoo facilities.

Infrastructure
The zoo is served by bus service provided by Metro and an offsite station on the Red Line of the METRORail light rail system.