If you've lived near Colonial Parkway long enough, you've learned to expect a fence somewhere on zoo grounds. For the past decade there has almost always been one. What's easy to miss, unless you're paying close attention to the difference between the two, is that the fence going up this year belongs to a different project than the one that's been defining the zoo since 2016. One of those projects is winding down. The other is just getting started.
That distinction matters if you're planning a fall visit, or if you've simply wondered why the place never seems to stop changing. The short version: the big-ticket overhaul most residents associate with the zoo, a $130 million campaign called A Wilder Vision, has three of its four planned habitats open and its last piece not due until 2027. The construction you're more likely to notice right now, along the edge of the Texas Wild! area, belongs to a newer, more modest effort with its own timeline and its own ambitions.
The Decade-Long Project Is Almost Over
A Wilder Vision launched in 2016 as a four-phase, $130 million capital campaign aimed at reshaping large sections of the zoo. The zoo's own project page confirms three of the four planned habitats are now open, with the fourth and final phase, Forests & Jungles of the World, targeted for completion by 2027.
On top of that campaign, the zoo has kept individual exhibits moving on their own timelines. World of Primates reopened this past April with new species added to the habitat, including a two-toed sloth named Olive, according to CBS Texas. Predators of Asia & Africa, the zoo's big-cat habitat, opened in recent years as well and remains one of its more talked-about corners.
What that timeline tells a nearby resident is simple. If you've been putting off a visit because you assumed half the zoo was still torn up, that's no longer true. Three-quarters of the flagship renovation that's driven a decade of construction is finished, and the piece that's left isn't due for another year at minimum. For anyone within walking or short-drive distance of Colonial Parkway, this fall is a genuinely settled window between major closures, not a preview of more disruption.
A Second, Smaller Renovation Is Taking Its Place
The fence you're more likely to run into this year isn't part of A Wilder Vision at all. It belongs to a separate, ongoing rebuild of the Texas Wild! exhibit, the section of the zoo dedicated to the state's own ecosystems.
According to Fort Worth Report, construction was set to begin in February on a new 24,000 square foot exhibit called High Plains & Prairies, built around black-tailed prairie dogs along with foxes and deer. A filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation put the project cost at roughly $1 million, and it requires demolishing an existing building, removing some trees, and modifying a fire lane on the grounds. The zoo's target for finishing the work is December 2026.
This exhibit isn't a standalone addition. It's the second piece of a larger plan to eventually represent six eco-regions of Texas within Texas Wild!, following the Mountains & Deserts habitat that opened in 2025. Ramona Bass, chair of the Fort Worth Zoological Association's board, described the scope of what's ahead in a statement to Fort Worth Report:
"Construction and renovation plans are still in the works, but this project is in motion."
That's a meaningfully different situation than A Wilder Vision. Where the older campaign is closing out a fixed four-phase plan, the Texas Wild! rebuild is only two eco-regions into a stated goal of six, with no announced end date for the remaining four. If you're the kind of resident who tracks these things because you take out-of-town guests to the zoo every year, this is the project to watch going forward, not the one that's about to wrap.
What This Means for a Fall Visit
For a Colonial/TCU household weighing a weekend trip, the practical picture is straightforward. The zoo sits at 1989 Colonial Parkway along the Trinity River greenbelt, a short drive from Colonial Country Club and TCU's campus, and right now most of it is open and unaffected by construction. World of Primates is fully reopened with Olive the sloth among its newer residents. Predators of Asia & Africa has been open for a while and remains one of the better-designed habitats on the grounds. The one section actively fenced off is the corner of Texas Wild! where High Plains & Prairies is going in, and that work isn't expected to finish until December.
Half-price admission still runs every Wednesday, which is worth building a routine around if you're local enough to go more than once a season. Summer hours are still in effect through the end of August, with gates open at 9 a.m., which gives families a window to see the animals at their most active before the Texas heat sets in during the afternoon.
The bigger takeaway is about expectations. If the last few years trained you to assume the zoo is in a permanent state of renovation, that framing is now out of date in one direction and accurate in another. The marquee project that's dominated headlines since 2016 is genuinely close to finished, with its last phase not landing until 2027 at the earliest. But a second, quieter rebuild has already started behind it, and Bass's own words suggest it's designed to keep unfolding for years. For anyone who considers the zoo part of the neighborhood's daily texture rather than an occasional destination, that's the detail worth holding onto: the fence moves, but it rarely disappears entirely, it just changes which corner of the park it's guarding.
If you're weighing whether Colonial/TCU still fits the life you want to build here, amenities like this are part of the answer, alongside the district's walkability and its proximity to campus and the Cultural District. You can see how the neighborhood profile lays out the rest of the picture, and if you're curious what else has opened or changed nearby this year, our recent look at what's open, what's moved, and what's under construction within walking distance covers more of that ground.
Whenever you're ready to talk about buying or selling in Colonial/TCU or anywhere else in Fort Worth, John Zimmerman and the team are here to help. Work With Us.
