Mammoth, Record $50 Million Gift Gets a Major Houston Zoo Renovation Rolling: $150 Million Campaign Will Remake the Bayou City’s Zoo for the Future

The Houston Zoo is ambitiously gearing up for its 100th anniversary in 2022 by officially announcing on Thursday its largest fundraising campaign in zoo history — $150 million. Likewise, it was unveiled in ceremonies at the zoo’s historic Reflection Pool that by the time of that milestone, more than half of the zoo’s acreage will have been redeveloped.

Houston Zoo president and CEO Lee Ehmke, Mayor Sylvester Turner, and Houston Zoo campaign co-chairs Cullen Geiselman and Joe Cleary led the announcement program that was attended by numerous zoo fans and patrons.

To date, the “Keeping Our World Wild: Centennial Campaign” has secured $102 million from individuals, foundations and corporate partners. Included among them is long-time Houston Zoo patron, philanthropist Kathrine McGovern, who through the John P. McGovern Foundation has committed a $50 million gift, the largest in the zoo’s history.

“We aim to redefine what a zoo can be with beautiful and immersive habitats, compelling guest experiences, and an unyielding commitment to saving wildlife,” said Lee Ehmke, Houston Zoo president and CEO, addressing the gathering. “I invite you to join me on this thrilling journey to build the world-class zoo Houston deserves. Together, we will keep our world wild.”

In 2016 the zoo launched a strategic planning process that has resulted in a new 20-year master plan, which will reconfigure the campus. New experiential zones will highlight wildlife and ecosystems in Texas and around the world. As part of that strategic plan, $5 million will be dedicated to the zoo’s international conservation projects just as each of the new zones will be integrated with a conservation message.

The redevelopment plans, outlined in full here, will include a Texas Wetlands habitat featuring alligators, bald eagles and whooping cranes among others; a lush wetlands of Brazil home to  jaguars, monkeys, giant river otters, capybaras, birds, and tapirs; and by 2022, a Galapagos Islands zone (a first of its kind) featuring sea lions, giant tortoises, sharks and other iconic species.