SAN DIEGO ZOO WILDLIFE ALLIANCE

SAN DIEGO ZOO WILDLIFE ALLIANCE
2024 FACT SHEET

WHAT: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance is an international nonprofit conservation organization that operates two world-class parks, the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and empowers people to connect with plants and animals, develop an appreciation for nature, and contribute to the safeguarding of wildlife everywhere by becoming Wildlife Allies. With a focus on healthy ecosystems and the interconnectedness of the health of people, wildlife and the habitat they rely on, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance aims to drive conservation outcomes benefiting people and planet. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance collaborates and partners with hundreds of individuals and organizations worldwide to address conservation challenges utilizing innovative strategies. The Alliance synergizes skills honed at the Zoo and Park with experience in the field to inspire and catalyze conservation action on behalf of wildlife, working towards a world where all life thrives.

MISSION: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance is committed to saving species worldwide by uniting our expertise in wildlife care and conservation science with our dedication to inspiring passion for nature.

VALUES:

• Collaborate: We nurture alliances with diverse teams, peers, partners and communities to expand and deepen our impact.
• Innovate: Together we pioneer new ideas and approaches to ensure the long-term health and survival of wildlife.
• Inspire: We share our passion for nature to increase understanding, empathy, advocacy and action for wildlife.
• Thrive: When we collaborate, innovate and inspire, we help people and wildlife thrive together for a healthy planet.

WHERE:                   
San Diego Zoo
The San Diego Zoo is a 100-acre wildlife park that is home to more than 12,000 rare and endangered animals representing over 680 species and subspecies. Located just north of downtown San Diego in Balboa Park, the Zoo is also an accredited botanical garden, caring for more than 700,000 individual plants, including a prominent assemblage of close to 13,000 specimens representing 3,100 species. Guests are invited to take part in exciting educational experiences and create lasting memories while supporting San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s conservation efforts worldwide.

San Diego Zoo Safari Park
The San Diego Zoo Safari Park, an 1,800-acre wildlife park, is home to more than 3,000 animals representing over 300 species. Located in Escondido, California, the Safari Park welcomes guests to see animals in herds of mixed species in expansive savanna habitats. The Safari Park is a vast, accredited botanical garden featuring more than 1.3 million plants representing over 3,700 species. Guests are invited to take part in thrilling safari experiences and create lasting memories while supporting San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s conservation efforts to save wildlife worldwide.  

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Explorers
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Explorers raises awareness, promotes empathy and inspires a passion for wildlife in a younger audience, including the next generation of wildlife care experts, conservationists and educators. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Explorers provides a vast array of learning and educational opportunities for families, students and teachers to experience firsthand our approach to saving wildlife and support responsible collective action to protect the environment. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Explorers provides free and discounted education programs in San Diego that meet LEAD standards for science curriculum, as well as teacher training. Using powerful storytelling, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Explorers channel broadcasts enlightening television programming 24 hours a day to more than 360 children’s hospitals and Ronald McDonald Houses around the world—providing joy, comfort, laughter and learning each year to millions of children and their families who are experiencing challenging times and might not otherwise be able to experience the wonders of wildlife.

CONSERVATION FOCUS: For 50 years, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has conceptualized, developed and honed a unique set of skills and strengths that showcase the role of zoos in global conservation efforts. This includes expertise in conservation technology, ecology, reproductive management, community engagement, disease surveillance, genetic rescue, education and wildlife health, nutrition and care. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance is also home to the Wildlife Biodiversity Bank, an invaluable resource consisting of living cells and nonliving samples that can be used to bring species back from the brink of extinction.

The work of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance centers around key species in eight eco-regional “hubs” around the world. The following conservation hubs signify areas of high concern, with some of the key species within them:

• African Forest: Forest elephant, gorilla, chimpanzee forest elephant, gorilla, chimpanzee
• Amazonia: Jaguar, Andean bear, giant otter
• Asia: Tiger, Asiatic black bear, Komodo dragon, orchidTiger, Asiatic black bear, Komodo dragon, orchid
• Australian Forest: Koala, platypus,
• Oceans: Polar bear, African penguin, California least tern, snowy plover
• Pacific Islands: ʻAlalā, ʻakikiki, Figi iguana, aga, San Clemente loggerhead shrike
• Savanna: Elephant, white rhino, black rhino, lion, leopard, giraffe, cheetah, Grevy’s zebra, vulture, cycad
• Southwest: Quino checkerspot butterfly, monarch butterfly, burrowing owl, desert tortoise, mountain yellow-legged frog, Pacific pocket mouse, thick-billed parrot, coastal scrub oak, Torrey pine, mountain lion, California condor

COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance is dedicated to collaborative conservation initiatives that safeguard biodiversity, reintroduce wildlife into native habitats, mitigate disease, preserve genetic resources, foster human-wildlife coexistence, engage communities, enhance capacity and inspire change through education and outreach. Through its joint efforts with a global network of renowned conservation partners, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance envisions a world where all life thrives. To date, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has helped reintroduce more than 44 endangered species into native habitats, many of which were born at the Zoo, the Safari Park or at one of the five conservation stations the Alliance manages.

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s notable multidisciplinary field conservation programs include collaborative efforts to protect savanna elephants, giraffes and leopards in Kenya; polar bears in the Arctic; tigers in Indonesia; koalas and platypuses in Australia; a diverse array of unique wildlife in Southern California and northern Mexico; forest birds in the Hawaiian Islands; giant otters near the Cocha Cashu Biological Station in Peru’s Manú National Park; and gorillas, chimpanzees and other wildlife in Cameroon’s Ebo forest. These programs promote and sustain conservation and recovery of endangered wildlife and their habitats while providing training opportunities for scientists and resource managers.

WHO: Wildlife care specialists, veterinarians, nutritionists and other team members at the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, as well as scientists and program managers working around the world, are dedicated to the conservation of plants, animals and habitats to save wildlife through innovative wildlife health, science, recovery and management programs and community outreach. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance members, donors and guests contribute to the conservation work at each of these world-class facilities.

CONTACT:
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
Public Relations
619-685-3291
publicrelations@sdzwa.org
sdzwa.org    

About San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, a nonprofit conservation leader, inspires passion for nature and collaboration for a healthier world. The Alliance supports innovative conservation science through global partnerships. Through wildlife care, science expertise and collaboration, more than 44 endangered species have been reintroduced to native habitats. Annually, the Alliance reaches over 1 billion people, in person at the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and virtually in 150 countries through media channels, including San Diego Zoo Wildlife Explorers television programming in children’s hospitals in 14 countries. Wildlife Allies—members, donors and guests—make success possible. 

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