Animal Care and Management

Throughout its 132-year history, the Philadelphia Zoo has been known for its advances in animal science and commitment to excellence in animal care and management. As an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the Philadelphia Zoo manages its animals in cooperation with other accreditedzoos in North America, and, worldwide, through Species Survival Plan® (SSP)programs. Since 1981, zoos have been working together through SSPs, cooperatively managing animals to maintain healthy, self-sustaining populations that are both genetically diverse and demographically stable.The Philadelphia Zoo currently participates in 51 SSPs for mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, and Philadelphia Zoo staff lead some of these national programs. Over the next several years, the Philadelphia Zoo will embark on a historic period of growth, completing three major exhibits that set new standards for animal care and the guest experience. In May, the Philadlephia Zoo opened

Bank of America Big Cat Falls, a spectacular new home to some of the Philadelphia Zoo’s most charismatic animals — African lions, Amur tigers, Amur leopards, pumas, snow leopards and jaguars. Next, the McNeil Avian Center will transform the historic 1919 Bird House with dynamic new exhibits including a rainforest aviary and an innovative 3-D "object theater." And finally, everyone’s favorite destination, the children’s zoo, will get a new home and new look, with the totally redesigned Hamilton Family Children’s Zoo, scheduled to open in 2009.

Conservation in the Field and Here at Home

The Philadelphia Zoo has supported a robust national and international conservation program since 1992 and has received numerous national awards and recognition for those efforts. Field projects around the globe range from the New Jersey coast to the rainforests of Brazil and Kenyan savannas. Our program is centered around the Philadlephia Zoo’s animal collection, interpreting our conservation activities in the field through our exhibits at the Philadelphia Zoo. In this manner, we create links between our guests, our animals and the wider issues threatening these species in the wild. Philadelphia Zoo staff also provide direct support, participating in and/or leading programs to save species through scientific research and through alliances with other conservation organizations.Among the 25+ projects that the Philadelphia Zoo supports around the world are the following major initiatives:

• Golden lion tamarin biology and behavior studies in Brazil

• Humboldt penguin habitat protection in Peru

• Diamondback terrapin rescue and research in New Jersey and hatchling "nursery" at the Zoo

• Environmental education throughout the island of Rodrigues in the Indian Ocean

• Acquisition of land to increase protected habitat for jaguars in Mexico

• In Kenya, lion biology and behavior research and programs to reduce human/lion conflict

• Reintroduction of zoo-bred Micronesian kingfishers to the Pacific island of Guam

• Community awareness programs in Sri Lanka to decrease human/elephant conflict

• A program to address illegal killing of elephants in Kenya

• Research and community education to save Madagascar’s lemurs

Education in the Zoo, the Classroom and the Community

As a living classroom, more than 200,000 schoolchildren visit the Philadelphia Zoo for educational field trips each year. In the Philadelphia Zoo, they encounter not only animals from around the world, but experience one-on-one interaction with animal staff, educational interpreters and highly trained volunteers. To supplement the exhibit experience, we offer classroom lessons, guided tours, teacher training and outreach programs— taking the Zoo On Wheels into the classroom, hosting the popular overnight experience Night Flight at the Zoo, and offering summer camps, homeschool programs and more. Last year alone, the Philadelphia Zoo reached more than one million people through educational activities on-site and in the community. As part of our efforts to be a good community partner and inspire future generations to care about wildlife, more than 82,000 children from challenged communities for free on the field trip and educational experience of a lifetime through programs funded by the Annenberg Foundation, Wachovia, the Connelly Foundation, the Christopher Ludwick Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education. The award-winning Junior Zoo Apprentice Program (JZAP) is an intensive four-year internship and mentoring program designed to introduce local young people, most from low-income communities, to science careers. JZAP’s four-year sequence of work-based learning opportunities introduces students to all aspects of the Philadelphia Zoo, from animal science to business operations. Nearing the end of their JZAP experience, apprentices become eligible for the ultimate field trip –an educational safari to Africa. Members qualify by achieving attendance and participation goals, meeting academic standards and writing an essay. The JZAP program has graduated more than 150 Philadelphia-area young people to date and sent 51 on African safaris, and the college enrollment rate for the program exceeds the national rate. The Philadelphia Zoo is truly a living classroom, with the ambitious goal of saving wildlife and wild places through the dedicated efforts of our staff and volunteers and by inspiring our guests to conservation action.