SAN DIEGO (Dec. 19, 2023) – For more than a decade, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s entomology team has collaborated with Australia’s Melbourne Zoo to maintain populations of the critically endangered Lord Howe Island stick insect. For the first time in North America, visitors to the San Diego Zoo will have the opportunity to see these rare, nocturnal insects in a specialized habitat at the Zoo’s Wildlife Explorers Basecamp.

SAN DIEGO (Nov. 14, 2023) – San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, in collaboration with Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, reintroduced more than 70 endangered mountain yellow-legged frogs into a lake located in the San Bernardino Mountains. This release marks the first time the Southern California distinct population segment of the mountain yellow-legged frog has been reintroduced into a lake instead of a mountain stream. The frogs were bred at San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s Beckman Center for Conservation Research between 2020 and 2022, and then reared at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium. The cross-country effort to save this California frog is part of a robust conservation breeding and reintroduction research program aimed at restoring populations of this declining species throughout its historic range.

Biodiversity banking is a critical component of conservation, and the need for it is more urgent than ever. 

SAN DIEGO (Oct. 12, 2023) – Two critically endangered Sumatran tiger cubs emerged from their den today at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. The cubs, born July 12, stepped out to explore their outdoor habitat, much to the delight of wildlife care staff and volunteers. 

SAN DIEGO (Oct. 11, 2023) – San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has been recognized for its expertise in wildlife biobanking, and has partnered with the Species Survival Commission (SSC) of the world’s largest conservation organization—the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)—to form the new Center for Species Survival: Biodiversity Banking. The new center is the first ever to have a strategy focus rather than a taxonomic one.

SAN DIEGO (Sept. 15, 2023) – It is a special International Red Panda Day for the 3-month-old red panda cub at the San Diego Zoo, after the conservation organization announced her new name. The endangered cub will now be called Pavitra (pronounced pah-vee-tra), which means “sacred” in Nepali. Pavitra was born June 9 to first-time parents Adira and Lucas, and she is the first red panda born at the Zoo since 2006.

Challenges are lurking in the watery world of black caimans—and their reptilian relatives.

SAN DIEGO (Aug. 10, 2023) – San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has announced construction is officially underway on the largest and most transformative project in the San Diego Zoo Safari Park’s 50-year history. The all-new Denny Sanford Elephant Valley will reimagine the heart of the Safari Park, turning the current elephant environment into a dynamic savanna and a place of exploration. Elephant Valley will give guests of all ages the opportunity to connect with elephants like never before, encouraging greater empathy, understanding, and appreciation of this majestic species—and igniting a passion for wildlife.

SAN DIEGO (July 27, 2023) – San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance is celebrating the birth of two Sumatran tiger cubs—the first of this critically endangered species to be born at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park’s Tull Family Tiger Trail habitat in seven years. Their birth also comes just in time for Global Tiger Day. With only an estimated 400 to 600 Sumatran tigers remaining on Earth, the births are significant in increasing the worldwide population of this tiger species and furthering the nonprofit conservation organization’s ongoing work to conserve them.

SAN DIEGO (July 13, 2023) – After more than two years of dedicated work, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance conservationists are achieving success breeding a critically endangered coastal bird: the milky stork. This breeding program is part of an 11th-hour effort with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Taxon Advisory Group (AZA TAG) to assist the last remaining individuals of the species living in North America—helping them successfully reproduce, and bolster the world’s population of milky storks.