Houstonia’s The Must List tells you about something going on in Houston that you absolutely cannot miss.

Tess routinely receives an exclusive pedicure, unavailable anywhere else in Houston. The 41-year-old pampered princess’s foot is cradled as it prepares for a soothing bath. Hard, deadened skin cells get trimmed and filed down with gentle care, and any detritus beneath her nails is picked clean. Her strict podiatric beauty regimen concludes with a generous spray of fungicide, befitting Tess’s profession as a 3.5-ton Asian elephant at the Houston Zoo, one of the stars of the 9:30am Meet the Keeper Chats, centered on bathing her and her herd for an audience.

Every day, the zoo offers a series of short lectures scattered across the grounds, hosted by zookeepers at their respective exhibits. The schedule changes daily based on availability and special events, though the elephant baths and giraffe feedings are always on the calendar. Each talk lasts about a half-hour or so and provides a more detailed look at both animal behavior and how the zoo runs.

Tarah Cornelius, who has worked as Houston Zoo’s director of animal care for the past decade, says that the Meet the Keeper Chats have been going on for even longer than her tenure. They seem to have always been a part of the zoo’s programming, at least in recent memory. Attendance can range from just one person, which Cornelius refers to as a “super fun” time, to small crowds at the popular sea lion exhibit. Some lectures are scheduled to coincide with major milestones in the zoo’s history.

“Our friendly team are the champions for throwing a party and celebrating their animals’ birthdays,” Cornelius says. “Our great apes are older, and so it’s really fun to be like, ‘Hey, you know, it’s [orangutan] Cheyenne’s 50th birthday. Come celebrate!”

Meet the Keeper Chats, regardless of whether they come accompanied by a big event, also provide an opportunity for visitors to build a greater sense of communion and empathy for the animals. At the elephant baths, middle-aged mothers voiced appreciation at finding out Tess’s age, and laughed as she shooed her 3-year-old son Teddy away with her trunk while he attempted to interrupt her spa time. It’s difficult to not see shades of human in the decidedly quadrupedal. The zoo actively encourages patrons to make these personal associations, because they help create a sense of ecological responsibility and send a crucial message about conservation.

“The more you know, the more you relate,” Cornelius says. “The more empathy you have towards that animal or that species, the more you’re going to care to do something to help save it in the wild.”

She points out that the most popular Meet the Keeper Chats involve considerable interplay between the animals and their caretakers: the elephants getting their baths and pedicures, for example, or the giraffes receiving their morning and afternoon nibbles (zoo guests can also feed the ruminants themselves for an additional $9). Sea lions and their unrelated land-dwelling equivalents delight zoogoers when they walk up to engage with their keepers during talks.

“That’s something you don’t always get to see, so those [incidents] are usually pretty exciting,” Cornelius says.

Even some of the less interactive animals inspire visitors to go out and do good for the environment. Bobbi the green sea turtle, a Galápagos exhibit resident whom Cornelius describes as “so cool and so charismatic,” has served as an ambassador animal since 2018, when she was blown off course by a storm and found struggling with maintaining a healthy buoyancy. She’s lived at the Houston Zoo ever since, as her issues make her more vulnerable to both natural and manmade accidents. Visitors charmed by Bobbi’s story learn how to keep her fellow sea turtles safe as part of their Meet the Keeper Chats education.

“‘How can I help save sea turtles in the wild?’ Well, that’s one of the easiest things you can do. Use this reusable bottle instead of a plastic bottle. I’m going to try to reduce the amount of plastics that I use in my life,” Cornelius says. “And that helps save not just animals like Bobbi… It also helps save animals that live in and rely on the water.”

Despite not possessing an aquatic nature, Tess certainly falls under the qualifier of “rely[ing] on the water.” What’s a gal to do without her regular pedicure?