Tracing Retrovirus through the Generations for Conservation and Health

Native bats help save ecosystems

As the world comes together to cheer on our top athletes, let’s take a moment to celebrate and admire the wildlife that could rival them.

Mom means a lot of different things in the world of wildlife.

SAN DIEGO (Jan. 9, 2024) – To apply cutting-edge technology to the conservation of koalas, San Diego Wildlife Alliance is partnering with Illumina, a leading genomic sequencing technology company, through the Illumina iConserve program to sequence the whole genomes (an individual’s complete set of DNA) of nearly 100 koalas residing in North America over the past 30 years. Whole genome sequencing is integral to learning more about Koala Retrovirus, KoRV – a virus that can insert into the koala genome and is associated with various health issues in koalas including immunosuppression and cancer.

African penguins and California least terns share marine habitat challenges.

SAN DIEGO (Jan. 1, 2024) – Today San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance participated in the 135th Rose Parade^® presented by Honda with a float celebrating the San Diego Zoo’s 107-year history. The float themed “It Began With a Roar” depicted iconic wildlife from the Zoo, including Rex the lion, whose mighty roar sparked a dream more than a century ago and inspired the world-renowned San Diego Zoo. 

It takes a team and some careful observation to keep the San Diego Zoo's colony of 25 black-and-white African penguins in the pink.

These resourceful insects turn fresh leaves into an edible fungus garden.

For naked mole-rats, it’s one for all, and all for one.