Archive
Technology is making a powerful difference in the world of conservation, and our teams are at the forefront.
LA JOLLA, Calif. (Feb. 26, 2024) – Love is in the water for the critically endangered Sunflower Sea Star as a team in California successfully spawned and cross-fertilized gametes from a male and a female, resulting in fertile eggs. This success marks another incredible step forward in an ongoing collaborative effort to save the species from extinction. This advancement took place at Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, where their experts were joined by partners from the Aquarium of the Pacific, California Academy of Sciences, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (SDZWA) and Sunflower Star Laboratory.
African penguins and California least terns share marine habitat challenges.
Polar bears at the San Diego Zoo are making a vital difference for their species.
SDZWA and our partners use customized drones to collect killer whale breath and monitor orca health in real time.
SAN DIEGO (Nov. 27, 2023) – For the third consecutive year, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance will partner with the Tournament of Roses in Pasadena and participate in the 135th Rose Parade® presented by Honda on New Year’s Day. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s parade float theme—“It Began with a Roar”—will feature a myriad of heartwarming stories from the San Diego Zoo that have inspired generations to care for and protect wildlife.
SAN DIEGO (Nov. 27, 2023) – When a mysterious illness called “sea star wasting syndrome” decimated 95% of the sunflower sea star population, and some 20 other sea star species along the Pacific Coast from Baja to Alaska in 2013, scientists rallied to understand the factors that caused such a massive wasting event. Now as part of the greater recovery initiative, in a scientific first, dozens of baby sunflower sea stars were hatched and are thriving thanks to a breakthrough in reproductive cell cryopreservation technology.
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.
SAN DIEGO (Feb. 8, 2023) – San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance today received a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDSTM title for Oldest Living Mouse in Human Care recognizing “Pat,” a Pacific pocket mouse fondly named after actor Sir Patrick Stewart. Pat was born July 14, 2013 at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, in the first year of the organization’s Pacific pocket mouse conservation breeding and reintroduction program. Today, he is 9 years and 209 days old. The GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title is a win for all the tiny but mighty—and often overlooked—species around the world that play an important role in their ecosystems.