Conservation - Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens

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Conservation

Commitment to Conservation

We believe that our responsibility toward wildlife extends beyond just safeguarding the animals in our care. That’s why we actively participate in the preservation of some of the world’s most critically endangered species.

We currently participate in 20 conservation projects, including the Turtle Survival Alliance, the Golden Lion Tamarin Project, the Madagascar Fauna Group, the Visayan Warty Pig Project, and the Philippine Spotted Deer Program. Special attention is given to programs that target wild counterparts of animals in the Zoo’s collection. General Curator Michael Dee explains, “We pick animals that we currently have at the Zoo, and then try to help fund projects that will help them in their natural environment.”

Since 2000, the Zoo has been a partner in the Peninsular Pronghorn Recovery Plan. The goal of this project is to breed the critically endangered peninsular pronghorn and eventually release animals to the wild. In March 2006, Zoo staff participated alongside personnel from Disney’s Animal Kingdom, the Living Desert, and the Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve to release a group of more than 20 peninsular pronghorn into a protected area in Baja California, Mexico. As a result, these animals are now roaming terrain where they haven’t been seen in decades.

The Los Angeles Zoo has been a proud partner in the California Condor Recovery Program since the 1980s. The program’s primary focus is the captive breeding and reintroduction of California condors to the wild, with the aim of establishing a self-sustaining wild population. To date, a total of 126 California condor chicks have hatched at the L.A. Zoo.

The world population of California condors, once as low as 27, has climbed to 289 individuals -- with 138 of those birds living in the wild. This remarkable success story epitomizes the Zoo’s commitment to conservation and provides reason to hope that other critically endangered animals can be saved from the brink of extinction.

Commitment to Conservation

Read more about our conservation efforts