Supported Projects
Conservation Supported Projects
African Penguin Rehabilitation
The Mabula Ground Hornbill Project
Turtle Conservancy, Madagascar Ploughshare Tortoise Project
The Tiger Conservation Campaign
Komodo Survival Program (KSP)
Chinese Giant Salamander Conservation
Hanzaki Institute
African Penguin Rehabilitation
African penguins, also known as Jackass and Black-footed penguins, are endangered in their natural habitat due to over fishing and environmental pollutants. The zoo has supported SANCCOB in their efforts to rehabilitate those penguins affected by oil spills in South Africa. Established in 1968, SANCCOB is a non-profit organisation whose primary objective is to reverse the decline of seabird populations through the rescue, rehabilitation and release of ill, injured, abandoned and oiled seabirds – especially endangered seabirds like the African penguin. The organisation works closely with colony managers to identify birds in need of care in the wild and bring them to one of its two centres in South Africa: Cape Town (Western Cape) and Cape St. Francis (Eastern Cape). In almost 50 years, SANCCOB has treated more than 95,000 seabirds and independent research confirms that SANCCOB’s oil spill response actions alone have increased the African penguin population by 19%. http://sanccob.co.za/
The Mabula Ground Hornbill Project
Aims to bolster the number of wild Southern Ground Hornbills, a flagship species for the savannah biome. There are only 1500 birds remaining in South Africa where they are endangered, and their numbers are declining throughout all their range in Africa. School education programs are one component of this project. www.ground-hornbill.org.za
Turtle Conservancy, Madagascar Ploughshare Tortoise Project
This tortoise (Astrochelys yniphora) is known as the most endangered in the world because of its very limited range in Madagascar. The Turtle Conservancy develops and implements strategies to conserve the species in Madagascar using all possible conservation tools. www.turtleconservancy.org
The Tiger Conservation Campaign
Provides a connection between North American zoos and the conservation of wild tigers across Asia. It works to reduce Sumatran tiger-human conflict by constructing tiger-proof livestock pens in villages, and increasing outreach, awareness and veterinary assistance. www.mnzoo.org/tigercampaign
Komodo Survival Program (KSP)
This Indonesian-based non-profit organization works to provide sound information on the biology, ecology, and conservation status of the Komodo dragon to help devise management and conservation plans for the species and its natural habitat. www.kspindonesia.org (website under construction.)
Chinese Giant Salamander Conservation
To save this species from extinction, a Conservation Program has been initiated in China by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) in collaboration with Chinese institutions and the government of China. The goal is to build a strategic conservation plan for the CGS within its native range in China. The Chinese giant salamander is a “flagship” species for China’s freshwater river systems. www.chinesegiantsalamanders.org
Hanzaki Institute
The ecology of the Japanese giant salamander (Andrias japonicas) is being studied in order to develop a long range conservation plan for this near-threatened species, an icon in Japanese culture. Current population surveys are being compared to 40 years of data during which the species faced increasing habitat loss, pollution, and hybridization with its introduced cousin, the Chinese Giant Salamander.
