June is National Zoo Month – celebrate by visiting your favorite zoo.

Summer is the perfect time to explore the wild wonders of Texas. With 29 zoos and aquariums across the state, there’s no shortage of animal adventures for every family. Whether you’re marveling at big cats, feeding giraffes, or learning about conservation, these zoos offer unforgettable experiences that also support local jobs and education.

Houston Zoo

Mission: Connect communities with animals, inspiring action to save wildlife.     

The Houston Zoo is over 100 years old and home to over 6,000 animals. It opened in 1922 with a bison named Earl that the City of Houston kept in a fenced enclosure in Hermann Park. This summer, guests will enjoy seeing some adorable new additions, including a baby Asian elephant and a baby jaguar. Kirby, a 6-month old baby Asian elephant, who weighed 780 pounds in May has more than doubled his birth weight of 314 pounds.

One of their newest exhibits, Galapagos Islands, opened in 2023. It is the first major exhibit to showcase the wildlife found in the island chain. Some of the animals you’ll see here are Bonnethead sharks, Galapagos tortoises, Humboldt penguins, and California sea lions. These tortoises are offspring from a tortoise that came to the Houston Zoo in 1928 as part of a conservation program with the Bronx Zoo. The exhibit includes a 270,000-gallon aquarium housing sea life unique to the Galapagos Islands.

The Houston Zoo is not only a great place to make memories but they are also leaders in veterinary medicine. The Zoo, with Baylor College of Medicine, helped develop the first ever mRNA EEHV vaccine to protect Asian elephants from a deadly virus.

Dallas Zoo

Mission: The Dallas Zoo’s Mission is engaging people and saving wildlife.

The Dallas Zoo is the oldest and largest zoo in Texas. It is located three miles south of downtown Dallas on 106 acres. It was founded in 1888 with just two deer and two mountain lions. Today it is home to more than 2,000 animals. The zoo is owned by the City of Dallas, but privately managed.

Guests at the Dallas Zoo have the opportunity to feed some of the animals. Special food can be purchased at the zoo to feed the giraffes, Galapagos tortoises (seasonal), and the birds at Birds Landing in the Lacerte Family Children’s Zoo. Another special opportunity available for an additional Fee is a Backstage Safari ($145-$175). This 90-minute guided tour allows guests unique experiences like feeding apples to the world’s largest land mammal, the African elephant or getting close to tigers. The zoo also offers camps every season for students in Kindergarten through 8th Grade. 

Fort Worth Zoo

Mission: The mission of the Forth Worth Zoo is to strengthen the bond between humans and the environment by promoting responsible stewardship of wildlife and ensuring diverse, high-quality educational and entertaining family experiences through effective and efficient management of its resources.

The popular Fort Worth Zoo is ranked No. 5 in the nation by USA Travel Guide. Founded in 1909, it started with just one lion, two bear cubs, an alligator, a coyote, a peacock, and a few rabbits. Today this nationally-ranked zoo houses more than 7,000 native and exotic animals. In the zoo’s first 10 years, they added to their collection with a pair of panthers, beavers, cinnamon bears, monkeys, and prairie dogs, and in the 1920s two American bison and a zebra were added.

The zoo was owned and operated by the City of Fort Worth through 1991. The Fort Worth Zoological Association, a nonprofit organization created in 1939 to raise money to buy animals for the zoo, took over managing the zoo toward the end of 1991.

Several new exhibits have been added since The Fort Worth Zoological Association assumed management. In 1992, the zoo held a grand reopening with two new exhibits, World of Primates and Asian Falls. Attendance increased to approximately 1 million visitors within a year, almost double the previous year, and has remained steady ever since making the Fort Worth Zoo one of the most popular attractions in the Dallas/Forth Worth area.

Cameron Park Zoo, Waco, Texas

Mission: We exist to support wildlife and wild places by connecting people to nature and inspiring change.

Cameron Park Zoo started with a small collection of animals. Today, it is a nationally recognized natural habitat zoo, focused on conservation, education, and community involvement.

In 1955, a group of outdoor sports and wildlife enthusiasts founded the Central Texas Zoological Park, which provided recreational and educational opportunities for residents of Central Texas through the observation of native and exotic wildlife. In 1989, McLennan County voters approved a $9 million county bond to fund a relocation to Cameron Park.

Cameron Park Zoo has undergone a significant transformation since its grand opening in 1993. In 2005, the Brazos River Country exhibit opened showcasing the history and animals that formerly lived and now live along the Brazos River. In 2009, the Jim and Nell Hawkins Asian Forest exhibit opened, showing endangered species like Bornean orangutans and Komodo dragons.

In August 2024, the zoo debuted the Gloria and F.M. Young Penguin Shores exhibit, home to the largest colony of endangered South African penguins in Texas and four black-footed cats. In October 2024, the zoo celebrated the opening of the Corwin, Estes & Jaynes Education Center and the Carol Schmidthauser Veterinary Hospital.

San Antonio Zoo

Mission: The zoo’s mission is to inspire its community to love, engage with, act for and protect animals and the places they live.

San Antonio’s first zoo consisted of a collection of animals assembled in San Pedro Park in the 1800s. In 1914, Colonel George W. Brackenridge, donated buffalo, elk, deer, monkeys, a pair of lions, and four bears on land he had deeded over to the city in what is now known as Brackenridge Park. This collection became the San Antonio Zoo.

In November 1929, two of the first cageless exhibits in America – the Barless Bear Terraces and the Primate Paradise – opened, offering visitors unprecedented views of animals. When the Richard Friedrich Aquarium was dedicated in 1948, it was described in the local press as “the world’s greatest.” The Hixon Bird House, funded through the efforts of Colonel Frederick C. Hixon, opened in 1966, featuring a simulated tropical rain forest and free-flying birds. The zoo’s bird collection is now one of the world’s largest.

Today the San Antonio Zoo is home to over 750 species and has more than a million visitors each year.

Happy zoo visiting.

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Cover photo courtesy Dallas Zoo

Minnie Payne grew up in South Carolina but because of her husband’s government job, lived in many different U.S. cities. Having lived in Texas 38 years, she claims it as home and appreciates the many opportunities and advantages that the Lone Star State provides.