I have been to many zoos in my lifetime, and this is the first one where there were no bars, anywhere. The walls or barriers were all made to look like the animals’ natural habitat. The monkeys were on their own islands with water as the only separation from other islands. This trip was a “behind the scenes” look at the zoo, and if you ever get a chance to do this kind of tour, I would highly recommend it.
The zoo is in the middle of Brownsville Texas. It was developed by Gladys Porter and is a zoological and botanical park. It opened on Sept 3, 1971. There are 1,600 animals in an area of 31 acres, of which 27 are pubic. There are 47 endangered species in the zoo and over 250 tropical and neo-tropical species and subspecies. Gladys Porter is the daughter of Earl C. Sams, who is a former president of JC Penney. Porter, a wildlife enthusiast, helped plan and stock the zoo, which was entirely funded by the Earl C. Sams Foundation. The zoo, after it opened, was given to the city of Brownsville.
The behind the scenes tour included feeding camels, turtles, giraffes, and bats. We went into the sloth enclosure and were able to pet it. Who doesn’t love a sloth! We were also served a light breakfast and a fantastic lunch!
The most interesting part of this tour was the kitchen area. All the fruits and vegetables are restaurant quality and get delivered 3 times a week. All the meat comes from a company in Nebraska, called Nebraska, which prepares zoo quality food and is delivered 1-2 times a year and is kept frozen for the animals. The food is prepared daily and is weighed, measured, and is specific to each animal in the zoo. Pre-pandemic, the annual food cost for the zoo was around $250k. Post-pandemic it is closer to $500k per year.
After the tour and lunch we wandered the front of the zoo. Here are some of my favourite photos of the day.
What a day! Again, if you ever have a chance to do this type of tour, highly recommend it!!!