CONSERVATION
Center for Conservation and Research at San Antonio Zoo seeks to fulfill the San Antonio Zoo’s Mission Statement through a variety of approaches, including fieldwork and captive husbandry of rare and threatened species. Much of our work is collaborative, involving partners from state and federal agencies, academia, and the private sector. The scope of our efforts includes projects on three continents, transnational research, as well as projects throughout the United States – with particular emphasis on Texas. Current projects focus on fish, amphibians, reptiles, insects, and crustaceans as well as imperiled ecosystems and cultures. The results of this work include recommendations for conservation and management of threatened species and ecosystems, boots-on-the-ground conservation, and contributions to our understanding of the ecology, life history, and evolutionary history of a diversity of organisms in the form of technical reports, popular articles, books, and peer-reviewed papers.
Please direct any questions regarding conservation projects to conservationinfo@sazoo.org
How You Can Help?
Financial support is extremely important for San Antonio Zoo. As a non-profit 501(c)3, we rely on donations to help in securing a future for wildlife. So this year, we would love for you to join us in our journey.
On average, San Antonio Zoo contributes over $935,000.00 through direct funds and research grants dedicated to programs geared towards species population status, habitat preservation, and potential causes for declines. San Antonio Zoo is also involved in local community training and stewardship projects as well as participating in species reintroductions into wild habitats! Below are several projects in which the zoo is currently involved.
We are proud of the conservation successes at San Antonio Zoo and around the world. We would like to thank our members and donors for making this possible.
Texas Horned Lizard
The Texas Horned Lizard Reintroduction Project at Center for Conservation and Research (CCR) at San Antonio Zoo seeks to restore the Texas horned lizard population by working with private landowners to introduce zoo hatched lizards in areas where it has disappeared in recent decades. CCR assesses candidate release sites based on several criteria using remote habitat ranking and boots-on-the-ground surveys. In addition, CCR provides management guidance and assistance to landowners who wish to manage their property for native biodiversity, including horned lizards.
Project Selva
Center for Conservation and Research at San Antonio Zoo is working with indigenous communities in the upper Amazon Basin of Peru to help provide a continuous revenue stream that does not involve timber harvest or oil extraction.
MEXICAN BLINDCAT
The Mexican blindcat (Prietella phreatophila) is a rare subterranean catfish known from twelve sites in Coahuila, Mexico. Members of our team recently documented a population in Val Verde County, Texas, marking the first US occurrence of this species. This project seeks to determine the distribution, ecology, and conservation status of this species by conducting fieldwork in the US and Mexico. San Antonio Zoo maintains the only captive colony of this species and are working to establish husbandry and breeding
protocols.
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There's always something new to see at the zoo. Each year is packed with events and exciting additions.
