Houston Zoo finds hole in brown pelican habitat grid

HOUSTON (CBSDFW.COM) “It’s been a tough few weeks for Texas zoos. Just a few days after the police made an arrest Due to a number of incidents at the Dallas Zoo, Houston officials are also reporting a possible act of vandalism at their zoo.

A spokesman for the Houston Zoo said that on Monday, Feb. 6, keepers found a four-inch hole in the honeycomb brown pelican habitat at the Children’s Zoo. They quickly discovered that none of the animals had escaped or been harmed, and alerted security, who determined that the breach had been caused by vandalism.

As a precaution, zoo staff examined all other animal habitats and found no other openings or signs of vandalism. Security told the Houston police, who also sent officers to look for it.

The Houston Zoo said in a statement that it is “ready to prosecute, to the fullest extent permitted by law, anyone who compromises animals in our care” and called the act “unacceptable, dangerous and criminal.”

Last month, the Dallas Zoo reported several incidents of vandalism that began when a man allegedly cut holes in clouded leopard and langur habitats, allowing one of the leopards to escape for several hours. The same man was also accused of stealing two tamarin monkeys later found in a house in Lancaster.

Around the same time, an endangered vulture was found dead at the Dallas Zoo, but police said they have not yet linked anyone to the incident and no arrests have been made.

After these incidents, I-Team CBS 11 reviewed inspection reports at several major zoos in Texas, including Houston. They found that non-compliant items were found in 50% of inspections in Houston, a high number compared to the 14% found in Dallas.

However, Ed Hansen, CEO of the American Association for Animal Defenders, was quick to point out that “malicious acts” such as vandalism are outside the scope of routine zoo inspections and could not have been foreseen. “…The issue of animal welfare is completely different from what you are dealing with here. It’s something completely different,” he said.

Hansen said the incidents in Dallas have already forced exhibitors around the world to take action to improve safety. This latest act of vandalism in Houston will likely only highlight the importance of these efforts.

Police have not named any suspects or made any arrests, and the investigation is ongoing.