Everyone that visits the Houston Zoo surely has an animal that they prefer over any other. People pick their favorite primate, favorite reptile, favorite underwater creature. But how about a favorite plant? The Houston Zoo is home to a lush and diverse array of tropical and native plants, flowers, trees, and various ground coverings.

Our team of horticulture professionals spends over 20,000 hours each year planting, pruning and working tirelessly to keep the landscape healthy, vibrant, and colorful for our animals and guests. The horticulture team at the Zoo is just one group of the many unsung heroes that help us operate on a daily basis. Considerable thought is put into the plant life here, focusing on native Texas species and their place at the Zoo. Our animal enclosures also feature plants that the various animals are accustomed to, highlighting the importance of regional plant life.

On your walk through the Zoo, you’ll be able to see various palms, cycads, and bamboos abound, along with flowers of every color, shape and size. This gorgeous array of vegetation provides some amazing photo opportunities and we certainly encourage you to point your camera at both animals AND plants. The morning light provides for some incredible shots, and there are certainly a plethora of plants to shoot(with your camera!).

While walking through the Zoo, it is very easy to get caught up in rushing to which animal you are going to see next. You should slow down! Grab a seat on a bench, take a deep breath, and enjoy this amazing oasis in the middle of Houston’s metropolis.

Oh yeah, and next time you’re at the Zoo and see one of our horticulture professionals working away, give them a friendly smile and wave!

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Whether it be a holiday or any other excuse to purchase candies and chocolate, it is important to know exactly what you’re sinking your teeth into. The production of many familiar chocolates involves significant amounts of palm oil. Palm oil is a form of edible vegetable oil produced from the African oil palm tree (Elaeis guineensis) which has been planted on plantations throughout Malaysia and Indonesia, home to some of the world’s most endangered wildlife. Because of the increasing demand for palm oil across the globe, millions of acres of rainforest in Sumatra and Borneo are continually cleared in order to plant and later harvest this ingredient. This destruction of rainforest has resulted in an immense loss of habitat for species like the orangutan. 

Luckily, an organization called the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) recognized this issue and established guidelines in order to promote and educate both producers and consumers on the necessity of sustainable palm oil production. The RSPO offers various certifications for growers that are only awarded after a number of criterion have been met.  By employing these certifications, businesses can now identify with the public and other businesses as an organization that believes in producing sustainable palm oil. The collective efforts of the certified are examples of how even large businesses can be an environmental steward. For more details on the RSPO and their certification process, visit their website.

To make a difference, all you need is a little bit of knowledge and a keen eye. By looking for and purchasing palm oil free products, or products produced by members of the RSPO, we can reduce the demand and slow the staggering rate of habitat loss. Here is a fantastic graphic that can serve as a great palm oil shopping guide.

Click here to enlarge

For more information, please visit our website at http://www.houstonzoo.org/palm-oil/

We are happy to announce that our very own spunky and stinky corpse flower, Pewtunia, is about to bloom!

Our fans know and love all the interesting, diverse and engaging animals that call the Houston Zoo home. However, an aspect of the Zoo that is sometimes overlooked is the incredibly maintained and varied plant life that not only keep the Zoo grounds looking beautiful, but also add a natural enhancement to animal habitats.

One of these resident plants is definitely a standout – our gal Pewtunia is what is known in the horticulture world as an Amorphophallus titanum. We realize that’s kind of a mouthful (we had to re-spell it several times to get it right), so you may know her better as a Corpse Flower, Carrion Plant, Titan Arum or Voodoo Lily.

Originally scientifically described in 1878, discovered by Odoardo Beccari, and only found in Western Sumatra, Corpse Flowers are definitely a rare sight and, ahem, smell. The name Corpse Flower comes from the distinct stench that has been described as the smell of a corpse.

Obviously our dear Pewtunia does not have any dead bodies near her – the smell is really given off, along with extra heat, to attract Carrion Beetles and Blow Flies. These friends to the Corpse Flower are pollinators, which means they are integral to continuing the Corpse Flower population. This attractive (well to bugs anyway) odor will be at it’s most powerful 12-24 hours of full bloom.

It’s rude to ask a lady’s weight, but we’ll tell you that Pewtunia is almost 20 pounds and currently stands 2’6″. She may not sound like a heavyweight yet, but prior to blooming, Corpse Flowers grow rapidly, and she will reach heights of 4′-6′ – maybe even 8′!

Pewtunia as of Thursday, September 8

So if you’d like to experience Pewtunia in all her glory, then start planning your trip to the Zoo now – we think she’ll be in full bloom by or before next weekend! Or maybe you’d prefer to enjoy the view without the smell?

Pewtunia will be viewable in the Zoo on The African Forest walk between the 4-D Experience and the Indoor Chimp Viewing area starting Monday, September 12. And there will be special Horticulture Keeper Talks at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. when one of our knowledgeable horticulture staff members will be there to answer any and all Corpse Flower curiosities you may have!

A snack for Toby, the red panda

This month-long series has mentioned so many kinds of foods that are bought or ordered by the commissary, then further prepared and dispensed by keepers. In almost each post you may have noticed the use of the mysterious term “browse” that many of our animals get as well.

A babirusa with fresh browse

Browse simply means the leaves and tender shoots that our animals might come across to nibble on in daily life in the wild.  We duplicate this by providing browse for them in their habitats.  The thing that may be a surprise to our guests is that we grow quite a bit of this browse on grounds.

Our Coquerel Sifaka dives in

We have a large, full-time horticulture team, led by Joe Williams. Like the old phrase, they are at hard at work outside, whether it’s in pouring rain, cold temps, or high humindity. Monday through Friday they spent between four and six hours doing cutting browse, which accrues anywhere from 100 to 200 pounds of it a day!  

Horticulture Manager Joe Williams and some of his team collect browse grown on grounds almost every day

Most of the plants and trees used for browse grow naturally, so they don’t take a lot of time or energy to plant.  We do add ginger, banana and a variety of bamboos, but those are planted in the Zoo’s overall landscape and when they are normally trimmed, that’s used as browse. 

A little nosh for our South American Tapir

At some point, horitculture may plant a browse garden or pockets of browse in a couple locations on Zoo property.  Proper pruning techniques are used to ensure that the health of the plants or he aestheics of the Zoo grounds are not affected.

Written by Rochelle Joseph, and Joe Williams, Horticulture Manager 

Our handsome okapi say gimme some browse!

It takes $600,000 a year to feed our over 6,000 animals at the Houston Zoo. That’s a big bill!

Please consider gifting your furry, feathered and fanged friends this holiday with a tax-deductible donation  during our Gift of Grub campaign at: http://www.houstonzoo.org/gift-of-grub/ or click the Contribute button on Facebook!

Our Horticulture crew

I realize that plants aren’t the first thing you think of when you think of the zoo, but it’s really an important part of the experience.  We provide the animals with plants that are like their native habitats, while giving them perches and shade.  And we create a lush background for the animals and a nice focal point for zoo visitors to enjoy while taking advantage of the shade that we’ve provided (so that no one melts into a puddle during the middle of the summer!).

It’s not always the easiest thing to do year-round, but we do get to see some cool stuff while we are out there.  For example, one of our jobs is to provide browse for the animals, which means that we cut and deliver selected plants for the keepers to set out for the animals to eat, play with, or just investigate, as part of their enrichment.  The type and size of what gets cut varies a lot depending on time of year, size of the plant, etc. 

Anyway, a few months ago we had to cut a really big tangled mass of grapevine out of a tree that it was trying to smother.  It was near the primate section, so we wrestled it onto our cart and took it over to see who wanted it.  We found a couple of keepers, and they very quickly pounced on our leafy goods — the next thing I knew it had been whisked away into the orangutan area…

Rudi, our male Orangutan, wearing a grapevine

Soon after that, we passed back by the exhibit.  The orangs were back outside, and I saw Rudi, one of our males, sitting on top of his climbing structure, sucking on a frozen treat with a small chunk of the grapevine draped over his head.  I’m not sure if he was keeping it safe for a snack later or if he just thought it looked pretty.  Either way, he was having grand time. 

The close- up!

Enrichment like that happens on a daily basis, and seeing it is usually about being in the right place at the right time.  But if you have a chance, you should come out to Enrichment Day on October 2, from 9:00a.m. to 3:00 p.m.; we’ll have lots of enrichment activities to watch, as well as some to participate in. 

And if you stop by my table, I’ll tell you how to make a giraffe drool.

Written by Anna Land, Horticulture Supervisor

The Vermillion flycatcher that kept us company for all three days.

 The area on Pinta Island  is thick with native vegetation. I don’t know all the plants of Galapagos (though I think I know a few people who do), but I did not see a single plant that I recognized as introduced. Plants that are particularly problematic are guava, blackberry, quinine tree, and passionfruit vine. None of these were in evidence where I went. These plants compete with native plants, resulting in loss of natural food resources for the tortoise, finches, and other wildlife in the islands.    

Finches abound. I believe there are 9 kinds of Darwin’s finches found on Pinta. Again, I can’t identify them all with certainty, but can recognize significant differences between the birds sizes and beak shapes that distinguish them as different from each other. There are also Galapagos mockingbirds, Galapagos doves, and Galapagos hawks visible at almost all times. The doves are particularly beautiful and so tame that they almost didn’t get out of the way when I walked the trail. A particular treat was the Vermillion Flycatcher, pictured left, that met us at the beach when we arrived with the first tortoises. It’s the same species we have in Texas that I’ve seen as close to Houston as Brazos Bend State Park. That bird stayed around all 3 days we were on Pinta, making some of us suspect there must be a nesting female somewhere nearby.    

I will see my friend Dr. Sharon Deem next weekend. Sharon is a zoo veterinarian who works here for the St. Louis Zoo on avian health issues. She’s been on many of the islands looking at diseases present in the various bird populations, trying to figure out the natural history of those diseases, and the impacts these pathogens play in the biology of native (and introduced) bird species here. I will be pleased to report to her that there was no evidence of avian pox on any of the birds that I saw on Pinta. She asked me to keep an eye out for it. Pox is spread by mosquitoes and is found in the finches, doves, and mockingbirds on many of the islands. We know it has been here a long time, but spread may be getting worse due to the inadvertent introduction of disease spreading mosquitoes. The same problem (introduction of mosquitoes and exotic diseases of pox and malaria) has wiped out many of the endemic Hawaiian honeycreepers. We don’t want Galapagos to repeat our mistakes, and they don’t either.    

Each tortoise is carefully carried over the terrain to be released and roam free

Today I took my turn on the beach. I helped with the tortoises as they came off the panga, and with the process of securing them to carry them up the hill. It was of supreme importance that they were well protected. This team was lead by Don Fausto Llerena. Fausto has worked at the tortoise rearing center (now named for him) pretty much since its inception. He knows more about hatching eggs, rearing babies, feeding tortoises, creating nest sites, and producing healthy tortoises for release than anyone on the planet. He also has a lot of knowledge about how these animals live in the wild. He is a resource for all new employees, and for consulting veterinarians(me). With Fausto in charge of securing the tortoises to the branches, there was no doubt they’d make it up the hill safely.    

We finished early — the last tortoise having left the beach late morning –  so we went to help set up the tarp over at the cooking/kitchen area that the students will use in their camp. Camps here are set up is that sleeping tents are laid out where there’s level ground. The “kitchen” is placed a bit away from the tents and serves as a common area to eat, relax, and converse. Their chosen site has a beautiful lava wall that blocks the wind so the gas stove will be more efficient. There are prickly pear trees marking the 2 opposite ends, and the shade structure is big enough to cover food storage and still allow room for a small plastic patio table with chairs where the students can eat and work. The camp site looks out on the bay where our boat, the Sierra Negra, sits in harbor.    

We went aboard for lunch and sat and relaxed some through the afternoon. I snorkeled around the boat for a short while and watched the large school of mullet beneath the boat extending off into what appeared to be infinity. There were a few triggerfish in the area, but not a lot of diversity visible from my vantage point at the surface. After snorkeling, I sat on the deck and watched the sea. It wasn’t long before a pod of dolphins came right by the boat. They swam by, then minutes later returned from the other direction. I had to wonder if they weren’t “working” the huge school of mullet I’d just seen beneath the boat. They came back and forth maybe a dozen times, then a group of sea lions came and entertained us. They went from one side of the boat to the other and played with each other for hours. It finally got too dark to see much more, and was time for dinner anyway.    

Sleeping Monday and Tuesday nights was a little hard because at anchor, the Sierra Negra has a little bit more movement. I’m not at all inclined to sea sickness, but it actually was hard at times not to roll around in the boat when it shifted.    

The food on the boat was excellent. The cook and his assistants prepared 3 hot meals per day. There was always a healthy portion of rice, some type of meat (heavily favoring fish) and sometimes a vegetable. Fresh made juice and coffee were available at every meal. There is 1 simple rule however. After eating, everyone washes their own plate and silverware. I thought this is a pretty good deal!
Continue the journey with Dr. Joe tomorrow, as he and the crew say goodbye to the students who will stay on Pinta Island for 2.5 months to track the tortoise’s progress, and return to Santa Cruz.
Written by Joe Flanagan

May 17, Monday, Pinta Island   

Press cover this historic event.

We ate breakfast on the boat, then started to move the tortoises, and  a few passengers each trip, to the shore on a “panga” (dinghy).   Once there, we were met by a crowd of journalists here to document this historic event.   

After a few photos and interviews were given by key players in this project, the first tortoise was secured on a log and hefted by 2 “cargadores” (carriers) who started up the slope. The task of transporting the tortoises is done this way because there are vehicles or carts on the island and the terrain is the kind that would make it impossible to drive. Considering the weight of the tortoises, this is the most cautious and secure method of travel.  

The cargadores picked work partners and divided up the route into 11 equal segments.  Each pair of workers would carry every tortoise over their segment of the path.  This enabled each person to know their part of the trail very well, essential in the irregular and shifting substrate.  I did not even attempt to carry a tortoise as it is hard enough for me to walk without carrying my share of a 200+ lb tortoise!  The guardaparques are very familiar with the terrain in these islands and can walk up hills incredibly fast, usually without breaking a sweat.  My ego can take second seat to the safety and security of tortoises making it to their new, permanent home.   

A great Tortoise poses in the "meadow" before continuing his lunch.

I hiked up the trail in the morning, following in the footsteps of those carrying the tortoises.  I didn’t get passed, but then, I didn’t pass anyone either!  After about an hour and a half, I made it to the release site.  All the tortoises were placed in the same area of meadow — a mixture of grasses and broadleaf vegetation, herbaceous vines, shrubs, and small trees.  There were a few tree form prickly pear (opuntia spp.) dotting the area.  All these were growing through patches of soil separated by small sheets of lava and strewn with lava boulders.  This is slightly different than the grassy knoll dotted with daisies that I think of when I hear the word “meadow”, but might be as close as it comes on the island of Pinta!   

As tortoises arrive, they are carefully placed on the ground and at that point they’re free to do what they will.  Some started to explore.  Some just looked around, sniffing the air, checking out the people, and then started to investigate their surroundings.  Most started to eat within 5 minutes but all did within 20 minutes of arrival.  The 39 tortoises started moving through vegetation, creating a criss-cross patchwork of trails through the grasses.  It was easy to hear the sound of breaking branches, and see dried stumps of bushes and small trees tumble as the tortoises pushed their way through the area.  They were doing what they were brought there to do!    

Come back tomorrow to read what happens the following day on Dr. Joe’s Giant Tortoise Adventure!   

Written By Dr. Joe Flanagan

Many of our guests are familiar with our enrichment program here at the zoo.  They often watch our animals enjoying novel items or figuring out how to get a treat out of a puzzle feeder.  We give our animals enrichment because it helps keep them mentally challenged and it’s essential to the well being of the animals we care for.

Recently our ace horticulture team saved a  root ball from a tree they had taken out and brought it over to the Natural Encounters building to be given to the animals as enrichment.  The root ball is about four feet across and took five of us to move.  We weren’t sure which exhibit to put it in, but after much deliberation and debate we settled on the Drylands exhibit.  It was an instant hit as you can see from this video.  At first the guinea fowl weren”t sure what to make of this spaceship that landed in their home, but now forage on it regularly.  The antelope ground squirrels moved right in and even the star tortoises enjoy burrowing under it.  The root ball is giving the animals the opportunity to express natural behaviors such as foraging and burrowing, as well as making decisions about whether this new thing should be approached or not.  These types of opportunities are what enrichment is all about.

The root ball will probably be there for a while since it wasn’t the easiest thing to move.  Come by the Drylands exhibit in Natural Encounters and see who’s hanging out on, around or under it!

I’ve had a number of guests and staff asking me about their plants both here and at home after the cold weather of late and what to do with freeze damage. The best thing to do with almost everything at this moment is to leave it alone.

- Don’t trim any woody stemmed plant or perennial until we are certain to not freeze again. The dead and/or unhappy plant matter will help to insulate the rest of the plant if we do freeze again. More importantly, if you cut back to green wood you could promote new growth. This is a huge expense of energy for a plant that is already hurting. Also the new growth is the most sensitive to the cold. The culmination of the energy output and continued damage almost certainly ensures this plant will die.

- Plants such as bananas, gingers, cannas and elephant ears can be trimmed back to the ground and mulched. For these you can trim to just below the damaged portion and they should be content. If there is still green, happy tissue the roots will still be getting energy from the stem which will promote a stronger plant next year. For the most part we are trimming the gingers and bananas just below the damage because we tend to use them as structural components of the gardens and they’ll be walked upon if we are to trim them to the ground. This won’t be a good year to get fruit from our bananas or flowers from our gingers, but the plants will come back. The majority of plants listed above are at least root hardy to anywhere from 10 to 15 degrees Fahrenheit.

- When considering tropical trees, if they are kicking off old leaves, this tends to be a good thing. This means that the tree is still trying to live, normally some sign of bud growth or the trees attempt to eliminate the energy necessary to maintain the leaves and concentrate of root growth. When a tree hold on to dead leaves if tends to be a bad sign. A quick means of checking the potential viability of you trees that do have dead leaves is to attempt to strip a leaf, it should come of fairly easily. This is also works to see if a newly transplant tree is doing alright.

- Now on to palm trees… Most palms that are sold here are supposed to be hardy to at least 20 degrees. This doesn’t mean that nurseries haven’t brought in other more tender palms or that we don’t have a handful of really tropical palms here. Don’t cut any of the ugly dead fronds off until we are certain not to freeze. The most important thing is keep the heart of the palm warm and insulated. This is the area where the leaves emerge from the trunk. The dead leaves give the palm a couple more degrees of cold tolerance. We’ll also wrap or provide heat to palms that we know are sensitive tot the cold. I can provide a list of the palms that are sensitive for any future freezes.

We aren’t going to know for certain the extent of the damage until spring. The good thing about being in Houston is that spring tends to begin in February. As I said before the best thing to do with most plants is just leave them alone. I know it’s tough to look at ugly plants, but for most plants either winter defoliation or being knocked back by freeze is the norm and they’ll come back as strong as ever.

The new pathway to the Tropical Bird House

Four environmentally friendly pathways are the newest additions to the Houston Zoo’s landscape. The new pathways, installed by National Sales and Supply are located near the Brown Education Center, the Tropical Bird House, the entrance to Wortham World of Primates, and the cassowary and hornbill viewing area.

The pathways are made from recycled rubber tires, which accounts for the spring in your step when you walk on them.

A close-up of the new mulch

The area at the entrance to Wortham World of Primates will be home to a bronze orangutan statue which will be installed and dedicated early next year.

The recycling process is simple – The tires are first shredded into strips, then ground to smaller pieces where powerful magnets are used to remove the steel fibers from the tires. The rubber from the shredded tires is mixed with a urethane base and the pathway is poured to the desired thickness, shape and form.