The El Paso Zoo is a zoo

Zoo

A zoological garden, zoological park, menagerie, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred....

 located in El Paso, Texas

El Paso, Texas

El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...

. The 35 acres (14.2 ha) facility houses animals representing over 220 species, including such critically endangered species as the Amur leopard

Amur Leopard

The Amur leopard , also known as the Far Eastern leopard, Korean leopard, and Manchurian leopard is one of nine recognised subspecies of leopard. It is a wild feline predator native to the mountainous areas of the Russian Far East. It used to inhabit the forests of Korea and China, but it has...

 and the Aruba rattlesnake

Crotalus durissus unicolor

Crotalus durissus unicolor is a venomous pitviper subspecies found only on the Caribbean island of Aruba, off the coast of Venezuela. Critically endangered, it is estimated that fewer than 230 adults survive in the wild. Sometimes still treated as a full species.-Description:Moderately sized, this...

. The zoo is popular for its sea lion exhibit, which hosts shows.

The El Paso Zoo recently expanded in size with the addition on the new African Exhibit featuring lions, zebras, and giraffe.

Zoo Sections

The El Paso Zoo contains animals in three major areas - Animals of Africa, Animals of Asia, and Animals of the Americas.

Animals of Africa

The Animals of Africa section was opened in March 2010 with African lion

Lion

The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...

 and meerkat

Meerkat

The meerkat or suricate, Suricata suricatta, is a small mammal belonging to the mongoose family. Meerkats live in all parts of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, in much of the Namib Desert in Namibia and southwestern Angola, and in South Africa. A group of meerkats is called a "mob", "gang" or "clan"...

 exhibits. In November 2010 it was further expanded with eight new antelope

Antelope

Antelope is a term referring to many even-toed ungulate species indigenous to various regions in Africa and Eurasia. Antelopes comprise a miscellaneous group within the family Bovidae, encompassing those old-world species that are neither cattle, sheep, buffalo, bison, nor goats...

s, including kudu

Kudu

The kudus are two species of antelope of the genus Tragelaphus:*Lesser Kudu, Tragelaphus imberbis*Greater Kudu, Tragelaphus strepsiceros- Etymology :...

 and Thomson's gazelles

Thomson's Gazelle

The Thomson's gazelle is one of the best-known gazelles. It is named after explorer Joseph Thomson and, as a result, is sometimes referred to as a "tommie"...

. The Animals and Africa section also includes giraffe

Giraffe

The giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest of all extant land-living animal species, and the largest ruminant...

, zebra

Zebra

Zebras are several species of African equids united by their distinctive black and white stripes. Their stripes come in different patterns unique to each individual. They are generally social animals that live in small harems to large herds...

, ostrich

Ostrich

The Ostrich is one or two species of large flightless birds native to Africa, the only living member of the genus Struthio. Some analyses indicate that the Somali Ostrich may be better considered a full species apart from the Common Ostrich, but most taxonomists consider it to be a...

, grey crowned crane

Grey Crowned Crane

The Grey Crowned Crane is a bird in the crane family Gruidae. It occurs in dry savannah in Africa south of the Sahara, although it nests in somewhat wetter habitats. This animal does not migrate....

, Cape teal

Cape Teal

The Cape Teal is a 44-46 cm long dabbling duck of open wetlands in sub-Saharan Africa.This species is essentially non-migratory, although it moves opportunistically with the rains. Like many southern ducks, the sexes are similar. It is very pale and mainly grey, with a browner back and pink...

, Egyptian geese

Egyptian Goose

The Egyptian Goose is a member of the duck, goose and swan family Anatidae. It is in the shelduck subfamily Tadorninae, and is the only extant member of the genus Alopochen...

, spur-winged geese

Spur-winged Goose

The Spur-winged Goose is a large bird in the family Anatidae, related to the geese and the shelducks, but distinct from both of these in a number of anatomical features, and therefore treated in its own subfamily, the Plectropterinae...

, and radiated tortoise

Radiated Tortoise

The radiated tortoise is a species in the family Testudinidae. Although this species is native to and most abundant in southern Madagascar, it can be also be found in the rest of this island, and has been introduced to the islands of Réunion and Mauritius...

s.

Animals of Asia

The Animals of Asia section highlights animals of that continent, including Asian elephant

Asian Elephant

The Asian or Asiatic elephant is the only living species of the genus Elephas and distributed in Southeast Asia from India in the west to Borneo in the east. Three subspecies are recognized — Elephas maximus maximus from Sri Lanka, the Indian elephant or E. m. indicus from mainland Asia, and E. m....

s, Sumatran orangutan

Sumatran Orangutan

The Sumatran orangutan is one of the two species of orangutans. Found only on the island of Sumatra, in Indonesia, it is rarer and smaller than the Bornean orangutan. The Sumatran orangutan grows to about tall and in males...

s, Malayan tapirs

Malayan Tapir

The Malayan Tapir , also called the Asian Tapir, is the largest of the four species of tapir and the only one native to Asia. The scientific name refers to the East Indies, the species' natural habitat...

, Siamang gibbons

Siamang

The siamang is a tailless, arboreal, black-furred gibbon native to the forests of Malaysia, Thailand, and Sumatra. The largest of the lesser apes, the siamang can be twice the size of other gibbons, reaching 1 m in height, and weighing up to 14 kg...

, Amur leopards

Amur Leopard

The Amur leopard , also known as the Far Eastern leopard, Korean leopard, and Manchurian leopard is one of nine recognised subspecies of leopard. It is a wild feline predator native to the mountainous areas of the Russian Far East. It used to inhabit the forests of Korea and China, but it has...

, lion-tailed macaque

Lion-tailed Macaque

The lion-tailed macaque is an Old World monkey that is endemic to the Western Ghats of South India.-Physical Characteristics:...

s, Malayan tiger

Malayan Tiger

The Malayan tiger is a tiger subspecies that inhabits the southern and central parts of the Malay Peninsula and has been classified as endangered by IUCN in 2008 as the population was estimated at 493 to 1,480 adult individuals in 2003; none of the three subpopulations likely harbors more than 250...

s, Malayan sun bears

Sun Bear

The sun bear , sometimes known as the honey bear, is a bear found primarily in the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia; North-East India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Southern China, Peninsular Malaysia, and the islands of Sumatra and Borneo.-Description:The sun bear...

, and Przewalski's Horses

Przewalski's Horse

Przewalski's Horse or Dzungarian Horse, is a rare and endangered subspecies of wild horse native to the steppes of central Asia, specifically China and Mongolia.At one time extinct in the wild, it has been reintroduced to its native habitat in Mongolia at the Khustain Nuruu...

. The indoor Asian Forest Complex is home to small mammals like the Prevost's squirrel

Callosciurus

Callosciurus is a genus of squirrels collectively referred to as the "Beautiful squirrels". They are found mainly in Southeast Asia, though a few species also occur in Nepal, northeastern India, Bangladesh and southern China. Several of the species have settled on islands. In total, the genus...

 and slow loris

Slow loris

Slow lorises are a group of five species of strepsirrhine primates which make up the genus Nycticebus. Found in South and Southeast Asia, they range from Northeast India in the west to the Philippines in the east, and from the Yunnan province in China in the north to the island of Java in the south...

, as well as birds including hooded cranes

Hooded Crane

The Hooded Crane, Grus monacha is a small, dark crane. It has a grey body. The top of the neck and head is white, except for a patch of bare red skin above the eye...

, pink pigeons

Pink Pigeon

The Pink Pigeon, Columba mayeri, is a species of Columbidae endemic to Mauritius, and is now very rare. It was on the brink of extinction in 1991 when only 10 individuals remained, but its numbers have increased due to the efforts of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust since 1977...

, the rhinoceros oHrnbill

Rhinoceros Hornbill

The Rhinoceros Hornbill, Buceros rhinoceros, is one of the largest hornbills, adults being approximately the size of a swan, 110-127 cm long and weighing 2-3 kg . The Rhinoceros Hornbill lives in captivity for up to 35 years...

, white-eyed duck

Hardhead

The Hardhead, Aythya australis, is the only true diving duck found in Australia. Hardheads are common in the south-east of Australia, particularly in the Murray-Darling Basin, but also in the wetter country near the coasts. They are moderately nomadic in normal years, but disperse widely in times...

s, Bali myna

Bali Starling

The Bali Starling , also known as Rothschild’s Mynah, Bali Myna, or Bali Mynah, locally known as Jalak Bali, is a medium-sized , stocky myna, almost wholly white with a long, drooping crest, and black tips on the wings and tail. The bird has blue bare skin around the eyes, greyish legs and a yellow...

, [black-naped fruit dove, bleeding heart pigeon

Luzon Bleeding-heart

The Luzon Bleeding-heart is one of a number of species of ground dove in the genus Gallicolumba that are called "bleeding-hearts".They get this name from a splash of vivid red colour at the centre of their white breasts...

, Nicobar pigeon

Nicobar Pigeon

The Nicobar Pigeon, Caloenas nicobarica, is a pigeon found on small islands and in coastal regions from the Nicobar Islands, east through the Malay Archipelago, to the Solomons and Palau. It is the only living member of the genus Caloenas....

, and yellow-vented bulbuls

Yellow-vented Bulbul

The Yellow-vented Bulbul, Pycnonotus goiavier, is a member of the bulbul family of passerine birds. It is resident breeder in southeast Asia from southern Thailand and Cambodia south to Borneo and the Philippines....

. The building is also home to a Burmese python

Burmese Python

The Burmese Python is the largest subspecies of the Indian Python and one of the 6 largest snakes in the world, native to a large variation of tropic and subtropic areas of Southern- and Southeast Asia. They are often found near water and are sometimes semi-aquatic, but can also be found in trees...

 and goldfish

Goldfish

The goldfish is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of order Cypriniformes. It was one of the earliest fish to be domesticated, and is one of the most commonly kept aquarium fish....

.

Animals of the Americas

The Animals of the Americas section contains exhibits of a variety of animals from the Americas including a new World of Sea Lion exhibit, Mexican grey wolves, the South American Pavilion, and Spider Monkey exhibit.

Conservation

In November 2010, the zoo sent a female Mexican gray wolf to Tenino, WA to be bred with a male wolf. The wolves were selected by a panel of experts as part of an effort to save the species from extinction. It is estimated that there are only 40 Mexican grey wolves left in the wild.