The El Paso Zoo and Botanical Gardens is home to over 200 species of wildlife from around the world including North and South America, Africa and Asia.  We are one of the very few major zoos in the US organized geographically making the Zoo a great place to study ecoregions on each major continent and geography in general.  

Many of the animals that live are your Zoo are threatened with extinction making them not only connections to a wide variety of habitats and countries, but also as ambassadors for conservation.  When you visit the Zoo, you can learn more about many of the different species that live here by reading Zoo graphics and by reading our virtual walking tour on your phone.  Our goal is to inspire you to connect with these animals in hopes that you will be motivated to get involved in conservation efforts locally, regionally and globally.

The following zoo animal list will give you some idea of the diversity of species that live at the Zoo. Because exhibits are always changing, some animals may not be on exhibit when you arrive. If you want to check on the exhibit status of a species you can contact the Education Curator at lobellorl@elpasotexas.gov.

Endangered and Threatened Species

Many species at the El Paso Zoo are classified by conservation organizations and government agencies as endangered or threatened with extinction. See below for more information on codes like SSP, PMP etc.

Asian Elephant, Endangered, SSP

Asian elephants are competing for habitat with 20% of the world’s population in Southeast Asia. Conservationists estimate a wild population of only 35,000 animals across the entire range of the species.

Aruba Island rattlesnake, Critically Endangered, SSP

This snake lives on the island of Aruba in the Caribbean and is the rarest rattlesnake in the world. The island is very small and development is destroying most of the snake’s habitat. Less than 12 square miles of habitat remains.

Bali mynah, Critically Endangered, SSP

This bird is endangered because of forest destruction and the pet trade. Due to captive breeding programs, there are more Bali mynahs in zoos and private aviaries than on the island of Bali in Southeast Asia. Our animals are part the SSP program. A release program has been in existence for over 20 years. Captive bred birds have been released with minimal success because people involved with the black-market pet bird trade have captured the birds. A new effort to release birds into better-protected habitat on the nearby islands is currently underway.

Bolson tortoise, Endangered

These reptiles hibernate during the cooler winter months inside their grasslands exhibit and most likely will not be seen. The Bolson tortoise is the largest land turtle in North America. South of El Paso, in the heart of the Chihuahuan Desert, where the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila and Durango intersect, there is a Biosphere Reserve called the Bolson de Mapimi. The last remaining wild population of Bolson tortoises survives in this reserve thanks to the conservation efforts of Mexico.  Over the past decade the El Paso Zoo has been involved in efforts to reintroduce this tortoise to New Mexico

This species is listed as Vulnerable because it has experienced a population decline of up to 50% over the past 3 generations. It faced catastrophic levels of exploitation during the middle of the 20th century, with subsequent lower levels of exploitation.

Cotton-top tamarin, Critically Endangered

These small primates are endangered because of the clearing of their forest habitat and population depletion from the animal trade. Nature reserves have been set up to help protect the species. Only 2-3,000 survive in the wild.

Galapagos Tortoise, Endangered, SSP

The greatest threats to the tortoises come from introduced nonnative species to the islands, such as rats, dogs, and cats, which eat tortoise eggs and young tortoises. They also must compete for food with goats and cattle, which causes food shortages. At best, there are about 10,000 to 15,000 tortoises living today on the Galapagos Islands.

Golden lion tamarin, SSP

The golden lion tamarin is one of the world’s most endangered mammals. It has declined largely because of destruction of its forest habitat for lumber, agriculture, pasture and housing. Over 1000 animals now survive in the wild. Thirty years ago, the population was down to 200. Captive breeding programs from Zoos around the world have successfully added nearly 200 animals to the wild population.

Hooded Crane, Endangered, SSP

Listed as endangered by the USFW. World War II devastated hooded crane populations and only 250 were counted at the end of the War. The high density of birds on relatively small wintering grounds in Japan makes them vulnerable to natural or manmade catastrophes. Today the wild population is estimated at 6,000 – 15,000 birds.

Malayan tiger, Endangered

An estimated 80-120 Malayan tigers are left in the wild of Malaysia, which has carrying capacity of 493 to1480 tigers based on available habitat.

Lion-tailed macaque, Endangered

Lion-tailed macaques are the most endangered of the 16 species of macaques. They have a low reproductive rate and seem unable to adapt to human encroachment: clearing of forests for agriculture, construction of dams and roads. Only about 2500 survive in the Ghats Mountains of southwest India.

Mexican wolf, Critically Endangered

The El Paso Zoo is part of a group of zoos in partnership with a US Fish and Wildlife Service cooperative breeding program to save critically endangered Mexican wolves. The program is designed to breed captive animals in support of a reintroduction project to restore the species to its native habitat in the wilds of Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico.  Approximately 200 animals now roam in the wild because of the effort.

Baja California Pronghorn, also called the Peninsular Pronghorn
, Critically Endangered, SSP

One of the newest animals at the Zoo is the critically endangered Baja California pronghorn, also called the Peninsular pronghorn. In 2012 the El Paso Zoo joined a small group of zoos in North America working to help save these animals. They have declined dramatically as a result of loss of habitat from human development, cattle ranching and livestock fencing interfering with their natural movements and drought. Today only about 250 animals exist in the wild.

Przewalski’s wild horse, Critically Endangered, SSP

The Przewalski’s wild horse went extinct in the wild during the 1960s. With the active support of the El Paso Zoo reintroduction efforts are now underway in Mongolia, China, Kazakhstan and Ukraine. There are now approximately 325 free-ranging re-introduced and native-born Przewalski’s wild horses in Mongolia, the only country where truly wild reintroduced populations exist within its historic range. The success of reintroduction efforts has resulted in the status of the species being elevated from extinct to critically endangered.

Siamang, Endangered, SSP

Listed as endangered by the USFW. Wild populations are decreasing rapidly because of habitat loss.

Sumatran orangutan, Critically Endangered, SSP

There are more orangutans in the wild than previously thought because of improved population estimates. In 2004, the total world population for Borneo and Sumatra was 50-60,000. The Sumatra situation is extremely desperate with an estimated population of 7,500.

Spider monkey, Endangered

Two subspecies from Central America are listed as Endangered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Most of our spider monkeys are believed to be hybrids.

Our Source at the El Paso Zoo: Our species status reports on based on the Redlist.org maintained by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) at redlist.org. For more information visit the Categories and Criteria section of the website.

Endangered: An animal or plant is Endangered when it is not Critically Endangered, but is facing a very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future.

Critically Endangered: An animal or plant is Critically Endangered when it is facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future.

Vulnerable: An animal or plant is Vulnerable when it is not Critically Endangered or Endangered but is facing a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future.

Lower Risk: An animal or plant is Lower Risk when it has been evaluated, does not satisfy the criteria for any of the categories Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable.

SSP: Species Survival Plan. The Species Survival Plan program began in 1981 as a cooperative population management and conservation program for selected species in zoos and aquariums in North America. Each SSP manages the breeding of a species in order to maintain a healthy and self-sustaining population that is both genetically diverse and demographically stable.

Photos by Rick LoBello