Houston Zoo is Reopening With New Rules and New Animals

Hip, hip, hooray! The gorillas will once again be on view, as will the willowy giraffes, the playful meerkats, the rhinos, and more when Houston Zoo reopens on Wednesday, June 3. It’s been a dry spell in terms of interaction for the animals, as the zoo has been closed since March 14 due to the pandemic.

Parents can rejoice with the return of this entertainment worthy of both children and adults yearning for a breather from stay-at-home mode.

With the Houston Zoo‘s reopening, things will be a little different from pre-coronavirus visits. New operating controls include timed ticketing for all entries, a one-way path, limited food-service options, and focused disinfecting of high-touch areas.

“We have been eagerly awaiting the time when we can reopen with the support of our local and state government,” Lee Ehmke, Houston Zoo president and CEO, said in a statement. “During this time, we have been establishing new protocols to ensure we welcome Houstonians to the zoo in the safest way possible.”

Beginning Wednesday, May 27, the Zoo will begin taking online reservations. (Zoo members will be welcomed on preview days June 1 and June 2.) All visitors are required to have online reservations, and those arriving without one will be turned away.

Reservations will be offered in three two-hour time frames — 9 to 11 am, noon to 2 pm and 3 to 5 pm. This platform limits the number of guests in the Houston Zoo at any given time and accommodates the need for increased social distancing. Tickets also provide free access to the TXU Energy Presents Dragons, a special exhibit with a limited run.

New protocols include the requirement that all employees wear masks, and all visitors are strongly encouraged to do the same, with either masks or face coverings. This is to help protect the zoo’s animals, staff, and other visitors. Visitors will be required to follow the one-way path, which allows viewing of whooping cranes, alligators, chimpanzees, elephants, and more. A complete listing of animals that can be viewed on the pathway is available on the Houston Zoo website via a downloadable map.

Buildings and other attractions will remain closed until further assessments of the situation warrant reopening.

During the zoo’s closure, there were two new arrivals: a baby elephant named Nelson and a Schmidt’s red-tailed Guenon monkey named Peter Rabbit (as he was born on Easter weekend).