Strategic Priority: Wildlife Conservation

We will inspire a movement of people to embrace and act for wildlife conservation through our zoo and community programs, with our field conservation initiatives, and by advancing meaningful opportunities for individual and collective action.

 

Why It Matters

Now that all wildlife and habitats are in the care of humans, we must confront one of the most profound ethical questions of our time: whether humans will be able to live sustainably on our planet with all of Earth’s creatures. Collectively, accredited zoos and aquariums already contribute one of the largest shares of financial support to wildlife conservation and species survival around the world. By leveraging powerful emotional experiences with animals, our field conservation projects, and partnerships in the Pacific Northwest and around the world, Woodland Park Zoo can help build and sustain a widespread commitment to wildlife conservation, inspiring and empowering people to take action.

 

 

We will support innovative conservation work to save key species and critically endangered ecosystems around the world.

• Advance local and global efforts to save endangered species and ecosystems through the field work of professional conservationists and through species survival programs, as well as with our strategic and financial support.
• Explore the frontiers of information technology applied to field conservation work, seeking to achieve solutions of significant scale through partnerships.

 

We will weave hopeful and engaging experiences with saving species into all we do, bringing wildlife conservation to a relatable scale that removes barriers to action.

• Combine creative exhibit design with thoughtfully integrated technology and participatory experiences.
• Create empowering educational experiences that engender a direct connection to local and global conservation issues and encourage actions with a positive impact for animals and habitats.

 

We will work with our partners to identify opportunities for personal and collective engagement in conservation solutions and rally our community to take meaningful action.

• Identify and promote wildlife conservation actions that are both significant and relevant to the people we serve, and that everyone can act on through a variety of methods, such as consumer and transportation choices and direct advocacy.
• Activate visitors, community members, and partner organizations to create tangible social change in our region.

 

We will be an inclusive conservation leader, dedicated to advancing direct actions as well as broader social change.

• Present a direct connection to conservation efforts and solutions in all animal experiences and programs, whether on zoo grounds, in the community, or virtual, and whether led by Woodland Park Zoo or our partners.
• Make our field work more visible, sharing inspiring and informative examples of wildlife conservation efforts across the globe and inviting our community to join in.
• Advance hopeful, empowering, and memorable opportunities for communities to save species and habitats throughout our communications efforts.