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
Our impact on this planet is profound and pervasive, affecting all life, lands, waters and air, near and far. As the home to incredible terrestrial biodiversity, forests are essential to life on Earth. They filter pollutants, regulate the water cycle, and support the livelihoods and wellbeing of millions of people. And yet, forest landscapes and the species that depend on them face significant threats. By focusing on forests, forest-dependent species and forest communities, Woodland Park Zoo commits to landscapes that have the potential to strengthen climate resilience.
At a time of urgent global need, Woodland Park Zoo is uniquely positioned to advance wildlife conservation across our region and beyond.
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.
WILDLIFE CONSERVATION ProgramS
Woodland Park Zoo’s conservation model involves partnerships with local communities, indigenous people, conservation organizations, national governments, and local and state agencies. Together, we work to successfully protect some of the last great wild landscapes and some of the world’s most iconic wildlife, from tree snails in Polynesia, to wolverines in Washington’s Cascade mountains to orangutans in Borneo. 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 come alongside 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 focus in our own Pacific Northwest region, in Papua New Guinea, in key forest landscapes around the world and on threatened species across the globe.
Northwest Conservation
Woodland Park Zoo’s Northwest wildlife conservation 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 endanagered butterflies.
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.
Forest Species Survival Fund
Our Forest Species Survival Funds are actively restoring populations of threatened species, from orangutans in Borneo to red pandas in Nepal. They are also now protecting thousands of square miles of critically important forest habitat for wildlife. This saves wild lands, protects threatened wildlife, and sequesters carbon to help mitigate climate impacts around the globe.
Species Survival Fund
The Species Survival Fund supports field projects and initiatives recommended by Woodland Park Zoo curators and the Association of Zoos & Aquariums Saving Animals from Extinction (SAFE) programs. These programs focus on protecting a wide range of threatened species, from snow leopards to hornbills, and even recovering extinct-in-the-wild snails in Polynesia.
RESOURCE CONSERVATION
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.
