The Texas Zoo
Legal name: South Texas Zoological Society
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 741546326
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2012
- Location
- Victoria, TX, United States
- Phone
- (361) 573-7681
- Rating
- 72
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Zoo, Zoological Society
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $833,678
- Expenses
- $751,556
- Assets
- $585,869
- Liabilities
- $12,181
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
8 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- ANDREW COUNTIS (PRESIDENT)
People named in this filing
- ANDREW COUNTIS (PRESIDENT)
- ROBIN HARKEY (VICE PRESIDE)
- AMBER COUNTIS (SECRETARY)
Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The Texas Zoo connects people with wildlife from Texas and the rest of the world and advances conservation through education, recreation, science, and action. The Texas Zoo is home to over **70 species of animals** , most native to Texas, and others can only be found in remote locations worldwide. Many of the Texas Zoo's wild residents are rescue animals that could not be returned to the wild or were surrendered by owners who could no longer provide the necessary care. The Texas Zoo strives to **CONNECT** the public to wildlife. Allowing them to **LEARN** the importance of these animals to the environment and to humans, inspiring them to **PROTECT** our wild animal's counterparts in their native habitats. Our Mission.
What it reported doing in 2024
Provide educational programs to the local and surrounding school children and adults.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 80
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 30
- Sustainability: 56
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 82.8%; rating input score 83
- Program expense ratio: 88.1%; rating input score 88
- Fundraising efficiency: $11.29 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 9.9%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.78; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 62; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -1.7% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 82.8% of revenue deployed · 88.1% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 0 of 11 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $662K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 8 people listed
- Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 42/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 35/100.