Did you know that the El Paso Zoo has two collections of animals? The biggest one is our exhibit collection including animals of all sizes from spiders to elephants. We also have an Education Animal collection. These animals are used for up close and personal animal encounters at the Zoo including Zoo Adventure classes that we offer at the Zoo and during the off season (October – February) at local schools.

Willie Maravilla is a member of our Volunteer Animal Handling team. One of his favorites animals is a blue-tongued skink from New Guinea, Australia and various islands in Indonesia. They have prominent blue tongues that they use to warn off potential predators. They forage during the day and are omnivores eating both animals and plants.

Here is an interesting video of a blue-tongued skink in the wild. If you go to southeast Asia and see one, we do not recommend that you pick one up like this animal lover did. In the video you can see how the skink uses its blue tongue to defend itself.