SAVING WILDLIFE
We're here to save animals, and we can't do it alone.
Join our global community of advocates fighting extinction.
WE'RE ON A MISSION
We need nature, and nature needs us to take action
The bounty of nature isn’t reserved to protected parks or wildlife TV specials. It’s connected to us every day in the air we breathe, the water we drink and the climate that shapes our food sources. We need nature, and nature needs us to take action.
Quite simply, humans are depleting resources faster than nature can replace them under the pressure of today’s 7 billion people. To build a sustainable future for our children, we need to allow for human development while finding smarter ways to manage our biodiversity, food production, habitats and water resources.
Conserving animals is at the heart of the solution. We must protect their diversity, abundances and the ecological services they provide by slowing the unnaturally high rates of species extinction. Our own well-being is inextricably linked to the well-being of wildlife and wild places.
The time to act is now.
Field ProgramS
Woodland Park Zoo’s conservation model involves partnerships with state agencies, national governments, other conservation organizations, and indigenous people and local communities. Together, we work to successfully protect some of the last great wild landscapes and some of the world’s most iconic wildlife, from lions and African elephants in Tanzania to tigers in Malaysia and gorillas in the Congo rainforest. Our conservation successes include tens of thousands of square kilometers of wild lands formally protected, and wildlife populations coming back from the brink.
These successes also come with improvements in local livelihoods for indigenous people and local communities ranging from enhancement of land rights and resource management to advancement in medical care, education, and sustainable livelihoods.
These successful initiatives are divided among three field conservation programs at the zoo: our two Signature Programs, the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program and Living Northwest Program; Conservation Partners; and the Wildlife Survival Program.
Living Northwest
A Signature Program of Woodland Park Zoo
Woodland Park Zoo’s Living Northwest Program focuses on recovery of threatened species in the Pacific Northwest and helping people and wildlife coexist in this shared landscape. Projects include wolverine and lynx monitoring in the northern Cascades, understanding and living with urban carnivores in the greater Seattle area, and recovering populations of western pond turtles and silverspot butterflies.
Explore the Living Northwest projects
Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program
A Signature Program of Woodland Park Zoo
The Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program works with local communities in rural Papua New Guinea to protect the endangered Matschie’s tree kangaroo and the habitat in which it lives.
Explore the Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program
Conservation Partners
Our Conservation Partner programs are actively restoring populations of threatened species, from Malayan tigers to one-horned rhinos. They are also now protecting thousands of square miles of critically important wildlife habitat, with thousands more identified for protection in the coming years. This saves wild lands, protects threatened wildlife, and sequesters carbon to help mitigate climate impacts around the globe.
Explore our Conservation Partner Programs
Wildlife Survival Program
The Wildlife Survival Program supports field projects and initiatives recommended by Woodland Park Zoo curators and the Association of Zoos & Aquariums Species Survival Plan programs. These programs focus on protecting a wide range of threatened species, from red pandas to Eurasian cranes, and even recovering extinct-in-the-wild snails in Polynesia.
Explore the Wildlife Survival Programs
AT THE ZOO
More than 1.3 million people visit Woodland Park Zoo each year. We connect people with wildlife and remind them of what’s at stake in our changing world. Our job is to motivate people to take action and provide them with the tools needed to join us in saving endangered species. That means our conservation efforts start right here at the zoo and in our community.