Houston Zoo

[Captain Callum]

Galapagos Islands - Indoor Humboldt Penguin Habitat

With the final addition to the galapagos islands, the zoo has been uploaded as a work in progress zoo file as I kept getting requests for an upload, one year away is a long time wait to lots of people it seems lol. The plan is to update the zoo file as it is expanded like what I used to do for my earlier recreation builds, each time as section (like the galapagos islands) is completed, the workshop file will be updated.

Main zoo file:

Steam Workshop::Houston Zoo Recreation

steamcommunity.com

Modded zoo file:

Steam Workshop::Houston Zoo Recreation - Mod Version

steamcommunity.com

So we left off with the aquarium, waiting to go up the lava tunnel. The top of the tunnel brings guests back to the surface and they are met with penguins! It doesn't make much sense why warm weather penguins are kept fully indoors in a warm climate but the indoor habitat for them is nice enough. A deep diving pool and lots of rocky background for the penguins to explore, basically a small warm climate version of the calgary zoo's penguin build.

The space to build was rather limited in space compared to the real thing, even though I made the building roughly 50% larger than the real building. The rockwork is simpler as a result but still effective enough.

As guests reach the top of the lava tunnel, views into the brightly lit penguin habitat can be seen. There is a covered shelter (yes in a indoor habitat, greatest thing since sliced bread) on the left side and the rocky background and pool to the right side. A touch of realism is found on the roof with signs directing guests to the building exit.

Guests pass the 'shelter' and have the option to view penguins from the lower viewing area which offers underwater views. The upper viewing area features lots of educational signs about galapagos penguins and humboldt penguins.

Like we saw in the giant tortoise habitat, there are signs telling guests these are not native galapagos animals, instead these are stand-in animals as animal ambassadors due to the export restrictions. Other signage educates guests about overfishing, and why these penguins are called humboldt. For anyone wanting to know why, the humboldt penguins are named after the humboldt current on the west coast of South America where they live.

View of the lowering viewing area and its underwater views.

The far end of the habitat has a curved window where the exit doors for the building are located.

Guests now exit the building, finding themselves back in the entrance plaza. A sign on the wall here helps people wanting to explore the zoo to start at the proper entrance of the galapagos island past the sea lion cove habitat. In real life, I believe a staff member is located here to encourage guests to start at the entrance rather than this sign which I made myself.

 

[Captain Callum]

Real Zoo Overview - Elephants, reptiles & primates

As guests leave the entrance area of the zoo, there are various straight paths to take that pass a reflection pool scenery area. This area is home to 3 distinct animal areas - the asian elephant habitat, the reptile & amphibian house, and the world of primates. There will be 14 animal habitats in this section, mostly found in the primates area.

Animal species list:

• Asian Elephant Habitat
  • Asian Elephant
• Reptile & Amphibian House
  • Various exhibit box reptiles and amphibians that are ingame, amount is depending on how many boxes I can place inside
  • Komodo Dragon
• World of Primates
  • Ring tailed lemur, red ruffed lemur
  • Orangutan
  • American Flamingo (Greater flamingo unmodded)
  • Siamang
  • Wolf's Guenon (Black and white ruffed lemur unmodded)
  • Mandrill, De Brazzas Monkey (No de brazza monkey unmodded)
  • Collared Mangabey (Bonobo unmodded)
  • Vervet Monkey (Mandrill again unmodded)
  • Coquerel's sifaka (Black and white ruffed lemur again unmodded)
  • Golden Lion Headed Tamarin (Capuchin Monkey unmodded)
  • Black Howler Monkey (Lar Gibbon unmodded)

Let's take a look at a map to help understand the layout

Map key:

• Pale Green - Grass/scenery
• White/cream - Guest paths
• Dark Brown - Boardwalks accessible by guests
• Blue - Notable Water pools
• Dark Green - Elephant shelter buildings

Reflection Pool

The reflection pool is one of Houston Zoo's iconic spots in the zoo, this reflection pool is a historic feature which was built shortly after the zoo's offical opening, roughly in the 1920's. The reflection pool has remained the same after all these years which the long reflection pool leading guests into the zoo which is surrounded by southern oak trees. Work with proper fountain features and a southern atmosphere will be the challenge for this area. The 2 other paths on each side of the reflection pool are just 2 paths covered by a covered walkway, those who have explored my zoo on the workshop will have seen these in place already.

Reptile & Amphibian House

Another historic part of the zoo is the 1960's era reptile & amphibian house. This is a great indoor reptile house with lots of variety in reptiles and amphibians around the world, the reptile house used to have an albino alligator which it was famous for but that no longer is present at the zoo. It wouldn't work ingame anyway as the habitat was probably only 100m2 in planet zoo terms. Outside attached to the reptile house is an outdoor habitat for komodo dragons which is decent enough but probably under the size requirements.

Asian Elephant Habitat

The most notable and guest favourite area of this section of the zoo is definitely the asian elephant habitat. This is a large habitat that can be split into 2 habitats for breeding purposes as the zoo maintains a sizeable herd of elephants. Guests can see elephants right up close in their pools or fence mounted enrichments and see inside the main elephant shelter building. For ingame, I will likely split the habitat into 2 so people will see a greater spread of habitats and the performance will be better with 2 smaller habitats instead of one giant habitat (an experience learned from the massive oregon zoo habitat).

World of Primates

In a perfect world, we would have all these primates ingame but ... no. The unmodded version of this area will be like half lemurs lol. Anyways, the world of primates is one of 2 primate focused area of the zoo (the african forest being the other), this area has the bulk of the primates especially if you love seeing lots of different kinds of monkeys. This is a semi-tropical themed area with half of the path being an elevated boardwalk allowing guests to see the monkeys in the 'treetops' or rather their climbing frames. A odd habitat for american flamingo is here aswell but they are here because of the ongoing construction for the birds of the world area that is opening later this year.

Generally the primate habitats are the standard mesh cage style habitats with some simple climbing frames, a couple foliage pieces and enrichment. Not that great but not bad either, this is clearly an example of the old houston zoo when compared to the modern habitat areas that the zoo has been building in the past decade.

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

Houston, we have a problem: I came for the elephant bath but it's not ready yet? I liked the sea lion environment though.

 

[Captain Callum]

Elephants, reptiles & more - Reflection Pool

So the next area of development is simply called Elephants, reptiles & more. A mix of both the elephant habitat, the reptile house and the various other parts of this area. Looking at the zoo map, the "more" part consists of the reflection pool, a nature themed playground beside the natural encounters building and the entrance gift shop. We have already seen the gift shop, so let's look at one of the more iconic sights of the Houston zoo - the reflection pool.

I think I mentioned before that the zoo's reflection pool is a smaller replica of the large reflection pool in the entrance of hermann park (the park which the zoo is located in). As the zoo continues to develop many modern animal areas, the reflection pool is a sight from the zoo's early history from the 1920's. The reflection pool is a long pool with several water features, an animal statue and seating on each side of the pool for guests.

Overview of the reflection pool area with the zoo path on both sides of the pool. Progress in this area will all be on the left side of this picture.

On the right side path, guests will pass the galapagos islands and enter the reflection pool down some steps where the stone brick wall is. To enter the main zoo, guests will stick to covered walkway path which will end up at the world of primates area.

Once at the reflection pool, guests see the long pool with plenty of seating under the oak trees. The oak trees in real life are actually much larger but the effect of the oak trees overhanging the paths is acheived to some degree.

The plants growing at the edges of the pool are not weeds, these are actually managed planters located just under the water.

In the middle of the pool, we see an animal statue with a gorilla and lion. The zoo seems to change this statue occasionally as sources have pictures of ducks on a branch, fossa hunting prey, a crane and other various types of animal statues. To keep with the bronze statue design, I used 2 animals that are at the zoo so statues like the king penguin, seal, or hippo wouldn't match.

At the end of the pool, guests then walk up these steps to return to the main zoo path. In front of us will be the future world of primates with the classic theme continuing for some of the entrance decorations in the primate area.

 

[Captain Callum]

Elephants, reptiles & more - Reptile & Amphibian House

One of the parts of the houston zoo I really wanted to get right was the reptile & amphibian house. I built a similar style of reptile house on my san diego zoo recreation using multiple exhibit boxes with roughly 19 boxes with some species having duplicates and an overall pretty poor representation of global reptile species. That's the reality of the ingame reptile houses however not anymore! Some know I spent 2 weeks building static reptile props with the goal of fixing this issue so everyone can have the chance at a diverse reptile house without having to use like 5+ boa constrictors and yellow anacondas to make a tropical reptile display.

The static reptiles collection finished with 150 reptiles to use, and I used near a third of that in the houston zoo reptile house. Exactly I have build 50 exhibits and 53 species in total in the large reptile house which also includes an outdoor komodo dragon habitat. The full species list is below:

• Outdoor Habitat
  • Komodo Dragon
• Indoor exhibits
  • Reticulated Python
  • Red Eyed tree frog
  • Diamondback Terrapin
  • Axolotl
  • Hermann's Tortoise
  • American Bullfrog
  • Fire Salamander
  • Golden Poison Frog
  • Lehmann's Poison Frog
  • Crocodile Monitor
  • Black tree monitor
  • Green Iguana
  • Jamaican Iguana
  • Common Chuckwalla, Baja Blue Rock Lizard
  • Northern Caiman Lizard
  • Lesser Sunda Python
  • Fiji Banded Iguana
  • King Cobra
  • Brazilian Lancehead
  • Amazon Tree Boa
  • Mexican Beaded Lizard
  • Western Diamondback Rattlesnake
  • Brown Tree Snake
  • Haitian Giant Anole
  • Henkel's Leaf Tailed Gecko
  • Side Striped Palm Pit Viper
  • Aruba Island Rattlesnake
  • Mexican Alligator Lizard
  • Black Mamba, Western Green Mamba
  • Monocled Cobra
  • Cottonmouth
  • Black tailed Rattlesnake
  • Copperead, Black Rat Snake
  • Saharan Horned Viper
  • Gaboon Viper
  • Mangshan Pit Viper
  • Gila Monster
  • Prehensile Tailed Skink
  • Veiled Chameleon
  • Eyelash Viper
  • African Bush Viper
  • Timber Rattlesnake
  • Emerald Tree Boa
  • Angolan Python
  • Sri Lankan Pit Viper
  • Giant Plated Lizard
  • Mexican Cantil
  • Eastern Coral Snake
  • Eastern Brown Snake

Entrance to the reptile house, large custom media boards are used to display the glass art. The downside is the inside can't see outside like in real life but a small price to pay.

To the right of the reptile house entrance, a decent sized komodo dragon habitat can be found. We can expect custom media backgrounds to be a core part of the reptile house experience.

Once inside, we get a nice wide view of the interior. Right in front of us is a large reticulated python exhibit, the path continues either right or left with exhibits present everywhere. A total of 50 exhibits means a whole load of animals to see.

Another wide angle shot of the interior showing the roofwork aswell. Those thin wallpaper boards are used as roof panels to hide the majority of the air conditioning vents and pipes.

Lets look at some of the exhibit now, first up is a north american desert exhibit featuring common chuckwalla and baja blue rock lizard.

A long exhibit featuring a crocodile monitor climbing a broken log.

A timber rattlesnake found in a temperate forest.

A mixed african grassland exhibiti featuring a black mamba and green mamba. We can see these large information boards for every species of the reptile house.

A view of the smaller exhibit sizes, we can see from left to right - monocled cobra, veiled chameleon, eyelash viper, and gaboon viper.

The last exhibit to show off is the eastern brown snake, the only arid oceania display in the reptile house. This isn't actually present in the real reptile house but since we have a lack of tiny turtles, this fills the gap nicely.

 

[Captain Callum]

Elephants, Reptiles & More - McNair Asian Elephant Habitat

The final addition to the elephants, reptiles & more area of the zoo is the McNair asian elephant habitat. This is an impressive elephant complex featuring 2 large habitat for asian elephants - one for females and another for males. We can find 10 asian elephants in this area offering an elephant herd experience epecially with the 7 female elephants.

Below is the overview of the elephant habitat which comes in at just under 20,000m2 of habitat space for the elephants. The largest is the female elephant yard which is the closest one with a large elephant barn which guests can look into, a large pool and lots of ground to explore - 13,000m2. Unlike my past attempts in the oregon zoo recreation, I managed to achieve an immersive elephant habitat which doesnt look empty and elephants explore every part of it.

Coming from the Carruth Natural Encounters, guests will be greeted with the large asian elephant habitat sign. The brick building on the right is the reptile house we previously saw.

We first see the female elephant yard, a shaded area with a mud bath offers a cool space for the elephants where guests can get close views of them. I have seen the elephants standing or sleeping under the shades which is pretty cool.

About half way along the female elephant yard, a dedicated viewing area features signs of each of the 7 female elephants. Their name and a fun fact about each of the elephants educates guests.

Looking to the right of the viewing area, we see the large pool and elephant barn. The elephants love to take a swim in the pool which is deeper near the rock wall. We can also see the use of custom palm trees which is something I have been doing more recently, it really adds a layer of realism with large palm trees.

The guest path continues between the 2 elephant yards and gets real close to the elephant barn. The female elephant barn has a fully detailed interior as there are viewing windows to see inside! Guests can see the elephants sleep inside the barn, playing with the large tires or just cooling off from the texas heat.

The second part of the elephant habitat is the male elephant yard. The overhead view gives us the idea of the layout with the raised boardwalk. The boardwalk gives great views into the elephant yard and wraps around the deep water pool which the male elephant do swim in the deep water portion. The heavy use of bamboo in this habitat gives a different presentation compared to the female elephant yard.

I should also note the world of primates is NOT next, I have been asked by many on the youtube channel to reach the pantanal sooner than later so we can expect a new area overview this week. The primates area will likely be postponed until much later in the year as it is part of the 'old' zoo not up to the same standards as the galapagos islands or even this elephant habitat.

 

[Captain Callum]

Real Zoo Overview - Birds of the World

Instead of the World of Primates being the next part of the houston zoo recreation, it is the brand new Birds of the World area. Birds of the World is a modern bird area with 3 large and immersive aviaires featuring a variety of birds from around the world. The birds of the world consists of a loop trail past the 3 aviaries and a beer garden at the entrance. This will be a heavy modded area since birds are kind of lacking ingame lol, all aviaries will include an ingame bird but the unique diversity that will make this area stand out will only be available to experience in the modded zoo.

Zoo map with the new birds of the world in pink.

Flamingo Terrace:

Animals:

• No Animals

The flamingo terrace is the beer garden at the entrance to the birds of the world. A modern wooden building with a cool rhino art feature serves beer and other drinks to guests, seating is nearby amongst the mix of temperate and tropical foliage already seen in various parts of the houston zoo.

Entrance into the birds of the world.

South America Wetlands Aviary

Animals:

• Unmodded zoo
  • Greater Flamingo
• Modded Zoo
  • Chilean Flamingo
  • Wood Stork
  • Roseate Spoonbill
  • White Faced Whistling Duck
  • Black Bellied Whistling Duck
  • American White Ibis

While the houston zoo already has 2 south american aviaries in the pantanal area, this wetlands aviary is basically a flamingo aviary with other suitable birds. As the name suggests, this will feature a variety of south american wetland birds in a large pool. Guests will be able to walk inside the aviary and view these tropical birds up close. The shape of the south america aviary is also unique, this curved shape will be an interesting design.

African Savanna Aviary

Animals:

• Unmodded Zoo
  • Ostrich
• Modded Zoo
  • Vulterine Guineafowl
  • Cape Vulture
  • Saddle Billed Stork
  • Grey Crowned Crane
  • African Sacred Ibis
  • South African Shelduck

The next aviary is the africa savanna, here a mix large and small birds showcase the diversity of the african savanna from ducks to scavenger birds like vultures. The aviary features a pool at the front and grassland features in the middle and back of the aviary, I like the inclusion of an ungulate skeleton to match with the vultures.

North America Garden Asia Tropical Forest Aviary

Animals:

• Unmodded zoo
  • Indian Peafowl
• Modded Zoo
  • Indian Peafowl
  • Great Hornbill
  • Malayan Rhinoceros Hornbill
  • Indian Spot-billed Duck
  • Palawan Peacock-Pheasant

As I want each of the 3 aviaries to be have moving birds, the real zoo addition of a north american garden aviary will not be included. The real aviary focuses on eastern north american garden birds to educate guests about the importance of garden birds on the local ecosystem. So in my version of the zoo, I have decided to make an asian tropical forest aviary utilising the new modded hornbills which use the custom animations to fly. We can expect a similar layout to the african savanna aviary but suited for a tropical forest instead of a grassland.

Pictures of the north american aviary just for the actual zoo overview.

 

[Captain Callum]

Birds of the World - South American Wetland Aviary

Starting off the new birds of the world aviary is the largest and most visually unique aviary in the houston zoo. This is the south american wetlands aviary which is basically a flamingo pool aviary with 5 other wetland bird species. Including a tall aviary structure, a walkthrough section, a cascading waterfall and lots of south american tropical foliage, this aviary is impressive.

In the modded zoo we can see chilean flamingo, wood stork, roseate spoonbill, american white ibis, black bellied whistling duck, and white faced whistling duck. As always any of my other channels (youtube, instagram, reddit) showcases the diversity of the real zoo aviary. While here, we see the greater flamingo explore the aviary even if a little out of place in a south american aviary.

Overview of the birds of the world so far, we can see the flamingo terrace plaza and the birds of the world loop path with the large south american aviary.

The flamingo terrace has a beer garden/drink shop as the main guest area in this part of the zoo. Lots of covered seating provides shade.

On the other side of the flamingo terrace, guests find the birds of the world entrance. A large bright sign welcomes guests into the birds of the world.

Heading left on the birds of the world path, guests see the large south american aviary.

The exterior viewing area is shaded with lots of educational signage about each of the bird species we can find in this aviary. A large glass window provides easy viewing without all the mesh surrounding the aviary structure.

An overview of this aviary shows us the walktrhough portion of the aviary. 2 small buildings allows access while keeping the birds inside the aviary. 2 doors and a pvc curtain are inside these buildings.

The aviary is pretty big inside with a large pool for all the birds. Just deep enough for ducks to swim but shallow enough for the flamingos, spoonbills and storks to wade in the water. The waterfall and tropical foliage allow plenty of hiding areas for the birds away from the central pool. We can also see placement of elephant grass has been used to create the overgrown wetland effect along the guest viewing areas.

 

[KoenZoo]

You make it look like these aviaries are standard in the game!

 

[Captain Callum]

Birds of the World - Africa & Asia Aviaries

I'll do 2 posts today as the houston zoo has been updated as the second update brings all the recent content we have seen added to the zoo. The birds of the world is completed with the addition of the other 2 aviaries, these are smaller and not as ambitious as the south american aviary but just as exciting with lots of bird species inside them (read modded version not the unmodded zoo lol)

Overview of the completed birds of the world, the south american aviary is easy to spot on the left while the 2 smaller africa and asia aviaries are found in the middle and right parts of birds of the world.

The africa aviary is an african savanna themed aviary where we can see a mix of grassland birds, in the modded zoo we can see shelducks, grey crowned cranes, saddle billed storks, cape vultures, vulterine guineafowls, and sacred ibis. The unmodded zoo which we can see in this post features 2 ostrich, while feeling a little small for an ostrich habitat it does the job rather than leaving the aviary empty for those not wanting to download all the modded species.

The asia aviary on the other hand is much more lush, instead of a grassy habitat, we can see an asian tropical forest aviary with a pool in the middle for the waterbirds. The modded aviary include 2 of the flying hornbills - great and malayan rhinoceros hornbills, painted storks, indian spot billed ducks, indian peafowl, and palawan peacock-pheasants. The unmodded aviary still includes the indian peafowl so this is the only unmodded aviary that has a correct species inside it.

 

[Captain Callum]

Houston Zoo Update 2

Since update 1, the zoo has more than doubled in size with the addition of 5 key areas of the zoo added: Asian elephant habitat, reptile house, reflection pool, birds of the world, and the main backstage. This completes the front of the zoo with the entrance and neighbouring animal areas fully completed. We have seen plenty work in progress pictures for the animal areas but what about the rest of the zoo?

To help understand the scale of the 2nd update, a view of the zoo from above with a dotted line splitting the zoo from each update is shown below.

I have talked plenty about the animal areas and buildings associated with them so lets look at what I have not really looked at in too much detail. The construction site for the jack's cafe is now an evolving site for each update. I will try to closely try to resemble the stage of the construction with pictures from zoochat. The update 1 site had an empty space with roadrollers flattening the ground, while update 2 now includes foundation work with a crane and excavator present. The opening date still remains somepoint next year hoping it is fully built before I complete the zoo.

The reflection pool in the middle of this area of the zoo has now received the backdrop of large custom made palm trees. Behind those trees will be the world of primates when I get around to building that area, likely in update 4.

The area that sees the most change is the brand new backstage area on the right side of the zoo. This is one of the most extensive backstage areas of a zoo I have seen and I have tried to capture that ingame. Large industrial like buildings, lots of vehicles and clutter, office trailers, construction materials, truck trailers etc make up this realistic and expansive area. This is a really nice showcase of the strengths of my backstage megapack blueprints and also various other workshop authors blueprints.

Steam Workshop Zoo links:

Unmodded zoo file:

Steam Workshop::Houston Zoo Recreation

steamcommunity.com

Modded zoo file:

Steam Workshop::Houston Zoo Recreation - Mod Version

steamcommunity.com

So, whats next?

Update 3 will contain the most requested part of the houston zoo and one of the reasons I wanted to recreate this zoo in the first place. We will see the construction of the "heart of the zoo", this is the central part of the zoo and is home to the major projects of the Centennial Campaign which focused on modernizing a large part of the zoo. The galapagos islands was part of the same campaign and we saw just how great that area was.

Phase 1 - Texas Wetlands. Native texan animals in a wetland enviroment showcasing local wetland diversity. We will see 3 animal habitats and a large modern cafe.

Phase 2 - South America's Pantanal. The most requested part of the zoo that everyone seems to love. This area looks at the rich diversity of species found in the pantanal region from flooded habitats to dry grasslands. We will see 3 aviaries, 5 habitats and a variety of fish tanks.

 

[Captain Callum]

Real Zoo Overview - Texas Wetlands

It's been 2 months since the last update so about time I annouce the next part of the Houston Zoo - the texas wetlands. The Texas Wetlands is one of the modern additions to the zoo focusing on animals that have benefitted from conservation efforts in the state of Texas, looking at the southeastern part where there are plenty of wetland environments. The Texas Wetlands is themed around a swamp/wetland with immersive habitats seen from a wooden boardwalk as guests travel around the wetland.

Texas Wetlands plan map:

With the map above, we see that the wetlands area is mainly split into 2 areas:

• The left side is the Cypress Circle Cafe, a large modern cafe with both indoor and outdoor seating and a unique curved roof above the outdoor seating area. From this area guests can look out to the Texas Wetlands.
• The right side is the Texas Wetlands, a large wetland with 3 animal habitats, 2 on the wetland side and another on the right side of the guest boardwalk.

Animals featured in the Texas Wetlands:

• Bald Eagle, open aviary/habitat for rescued bald eagles who can't fly
• Whooping Crane aviary
• American Alligator
• Alligator gar, static fish in the wetlands

East Entrance to the Texas Wetlands and viewing shelter for the American Alligator

American Alligator habitat

Wetland Walk, a short loop path between the alligator habitat and the cypress circle cafe

Whooping Crane Aviary

Wetland views looking over to the cypress circle cafe

Another wetland view, a lot more foliage in this portion of the wetlands. We can also see lots of variation with bald cypress trees in the Texas Wetlands, I will be making quite a few to match the trees seen for the best recreation of this area.

View of the bald eagle habitat on the left and whooping crane shelter on the right.

Cypress Circle Cafe exterior with the large curved roof over the outdoor dining area.

Interior of the Cafe, generally a typical setup of food ordering counters in the center and indoor seating near the windows.

 

[Captain Callum]

Texas Wetlands - Cypress Circle Cafe

I orginally planned to build the wetlands and animal habitat first for the texas wetlands, however further research into the layout for the wetlands showed a large portion of the outdoor dining area for the cafe directly at the waters edge, so knowing how water works ingame, I decided to build the cafe first.

The Cypress Circle Cafe is a historic building at the zoo, dating back to the 1950's. Although what is present today has been extensively renovated in 2019 with the texas wetlands area, the only part of the orginal cafe left is the unique circular roof and large cypress tree. The cypress tree is the centerpiece at the cafe which explains the name of the cafe, a circle building around the cypress tree.

Starting above the cafe, we can see its unique circular roof with a hole in the roof for the large bald cypress tree. This bald cypress was made by duplicating the largest tree 3 times and merging them together. We can also see a large covered space on the roof for the air conditioning system needed for a large cafe along with a backstage at the back.

The backstage for the cafe is pretty large. We can find transformer, a large generator, electric boxes, a vehicle shelter, skips, dumpsters and a large pumping station. We will look more at the pumping station when the wetlands has been completed.

On the ground, the entrance to the cafe is a large space for the outdoor dining area. This cafe has lots of dining space as it functions as the main food area for the zoo until at least the jacks cafe at the entrance opens.

In the middle of the outdoor dining area, we see the large cypress tree with the entire cafe built around it. A large amount of the cypress knees can be found growing all around the tree.

A closer look at the tree shows us this informative sign about the bald cypress tree. This sign is the design for the texas wetlands as we will see all animals using the same design.

We head inside the cafe and find a bright, white modern interior with large spaces for ordering as this cafe likely gets busy. Plenty menu screens are present on both sides of the ordering lines.

In the middle of the food ordering area, we can find this brick oven where the cafe cooks the pizzas. A mix of the african fire pit and south american lampost creates a realistic looking fire.

Use of lots of food props from the workshop allowed me to create a detailed food ordering area with lots of food placed on the counters along with food preparation units. 4 working food counters are also present to fill the gaps and make the cafe more lively.

In the indoor dining area, we find a large space for guests with around 50 tables inside. Modern roof panels with lights mixed with the black roof supports create a realistic interior roof that is far more interesting than a bland flat roof.

Another interesting part of the interior is the wall murals. We can find 2 of these murals inside the cafe which feature animals of the texas wetlands. This one shows an american alligator, the mural is made up of 7 x 2 metre square media screens.

 

[NachoB]

Wow, this is some of your best work i think. The interior of the cafe looks amazing.

 

[Captain Callum]

Wow, this is some of your best work i think. The interior of the cafe looks amazing.

Thanks

 

[wowman]

Nice - very open and bright

 

[Nemmie]

That is just fantastic!!!

 

[Captain Callum]

Texas Wetlands - Wetland & Bald Eagle Habitat

The second stage of the Texas Wetlands includes most of the scenery for the entire texas wetlands area. The right side of the wetlands is made up of the 3 animal habitats, the guest boardwalk and the large wetland. The large wetland provides a look into the natural landscapes of a texas wetland where tall trees such as bald cypress tower over marshes covered with reeds, duckweed, lillies and many other aquatic plants. Under the water, guests may even spot one of the alligator gar fish that live in the wetland.

Entrance into the texas wetlands, guests find bald eagles as soon as they walk onto the boardwalk

The entrance sign is a blend of custom media and 2d art shapes creating a unique sign shape. A large outline of the state of Texas is also featured along with images of the 3 animals we can find in this area.

A rescued bald eagle habitat, where they cannot fly away is the first of the 3 animal habitats. A large nest and pile of branches is provided for the eagles to create a similar nesting environment. A mix of barriers is used, a mesh net at the back to provide wetland views over to the cypress circle cafe and some modern vertical barriers that look like branches.

Moving towards the cypress circle cafe, we reach a viewpoint for the wetland. We see a wide range of wetland foliage, cypress trees and my custom loblolly pine and black willow trees, and a range of duckweed, lillies, reeds, grasses, and palms to recreate a texan wetland environment.

Over at the cafe, we get some great views of the wetland from the outdoor dining area. We can also see the large aviary structure for the birds of the world south american aviary.

Finally the last part of this update to the texas wetlands is that modern wetland loop at the other side of the cypress circle cafe.

 

[KoenZoo]

Please mention next time if you make an update of the real zoo or your recreation of it Had to look a few times with how realistic you a making it!