As the second largest state in the United States, we are home to a wide range of ecosystems; everything from dry deserts to swampy wetlands.
Bracken Cave, near San Antonio, is home to over 30 million Mexican free-tailed bats, making Texas home to the world’s largest concentration of mammals!
Texas lies in the middle of the migratory path for both birds and butterflies!
Challenges in the Wild
Litter pollution: Many species of Texas native animals in the panhandle and at the coast accidentally ingest litter while looking for food.
Climate change: Periodic and long-term drought, a direct impact of climate change, causes loss of suitable breeding habitat and reduce the amount of food available.
Dallas Zoo Saving Texas Native Wildlife
The Dallas Zoo is committed to saving our fellow Texans. In addition to hosting local and coastal litter removal events to protect all Texas native wildlife, we’re helping to save:
Critically endangered Whooping cranes: We care for five breeding pairs of whooping cranes at the Whooping Crane Center of Texas whose young will eventually be released back into the wild to restore dwindling populations.
Monarch butterflies: We plant over 1,000 native milkweed and prairie plants, converting grassy spaces into monarch waystations.
Red-cockaded woodpeckers: We fund and plant over 10,000 longleaf pine saplings every year with the National Park Service to restore their habitat.
Texas horned lizards: We have been researching and studying wild populations at the Rolling Plains Quail Research Ranch in Fisher Co, Texas for the last 10 years. We also participate in a breed-and-release program to help replenish their populations across Texas.
Houston toads: We participate in a breed-and-release program with the AZA’s Species Survival Plan to restore populations of this critically endangered amphibian.
You Can Help Save Texas Native Wildlife in the Wild
On average we use 2 gallons of water per minute while showering, and about 435 million pieces of litter piles up on Texas roadways every year. By shaving off a few minutes in the shower and picking up litter in your neighborhoods adds up to a lot of water saved and a cleaner environment, at your home and in the habitats Texas native wildlife call home.
Buy a Dallas Zoo membership to help save Texas native wildlife in the wild.
Litter pollution: Many species of Texas native animals in the panhandle and at the coast accidentally ingest litter while looking for food. 
