When it comes to zoo conservation, no group is more respected than the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. In the past five years, AZA-accredited zoos have enacted over 3,700 conservation projects totaling up to $89 million in over 100 countries. They are continuously working toward protecting endangered species with their Species Survival Plan program and genetically diverse breeding operations. The 110 SSP programs are aimed at saving more than 160 rare species. While saving the animals will undoubtedly take more than breeding, this group understands that preservation is also about habitat restoration and education too.

In 2007, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums released an article discussing zoo conservation success stories that happened that year alone. More than 6,000 Wyoming toad tadpoles were released into the wild, bringing these neat-patterned amphibians back from the brink of extinction. Fifty-two Perdido beach mice were housed in a Florida breeding facility to protect their species following a devastating hurricane. With just 400 North Atlantic right whales left, there are now 3,693 conservation projects underway to improve their situation. The 215 black-and-white ruffed lemurs held in captivity are now being reintroduced to the wild in Madagascar.

Zoo conservation breeding programs are just part of the puzzle, of course. There needs to be government protection of wildlife habitats and careful regulation of development and boating pursuits that threaten endangered species around the world. Far too often human exploits go too far and we destroy the animal kingdom’s environment, without ever really realizing it — until we see a dead whale washed up on the beach with rotor slashes on its back, or a mountain lion dead along a California highway. Zoos around the world are calling attention to these issues, imparting the lessons of conservation upon future generations while they are young and impressionable in hopes of avoiding a dire fate.

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