HOUSTON ZOO’S CEO WANTS TO GIVE THE GIRAFFES MORE ROOM TO STRETCH THEIR LEGS Lee Ehmke tells Claudia Feldman of Chron.com that he has big plans to improve the 55-acre institution’s exhibits and infrastructure in advance of its 100-year anniversary in 2022. The lawyer-turned-landscape-architect spent 12 years working at the Bronx Zoo and 15 at the Minnesota Zoo, creating immersive exhibits such as “Russia’s Grizzly Coast”, which put together leopards and tigers and bears. The Houston Zoo hired him to design its African Forest complex, which broke ground in 2009. Ehmke then came on as CEO in August of last year, and is already discussing an update to the front entrance, moving the Zoo’s dated cafe, giving the giraffes more legroom, and expanding the sea lion pool.  Ehmke’s longer-term goals include replacing much of the facility’s aging infrastructure, reducing the number of exhibits while improving overall quality, and even someday expanding to a satellite campus. [Chron.com] Image of giraffes in their enclosure: Houston Zoo