Species Survival Fund
Investing in threatened species before it’s too late
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
Of the 62,000 species of vertebrate animals, scientists estimate that about 20% are at risk of extinction before the end of the century. This loss of species diversity is unprecedented and in almost all cases human caused. But humans can also be part of the solution.
The Wildlife Survival Fund provides grants to field projects and initiatives recommended by Woodland Park Zoo curators and the Association of Zoos & Aquariums Species Survival Programs. Projects awarded through the Wildlife Survival Fund represent animals in the zoo’s collection.
Projects in the Americas
Northern Jaguar Project
Location: Sonora, Mexico, Supported Since: 2012
Preserve and recover the world’s northernmost population of the jaguar, its unique natural habitats, and native wildlife under its protection as a flagship, keystone and umbrella species. This project offers protection for jaguar populations across a region of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands where poaching and poisoning are immediate threats. The project develops long-term relationships with community members to promote coexistence with wildlife and engage youth as conservation ambassadors.
Punta San Juan Program
Location: Punta San Juan, Peru, Project Since: 2008
Humboldt penguins are only found along the rugged Pacific coasts of Peru and Chile. Their survival is tied to two things: guano (seabird droppings) in which the penguins their dig nesting burrows and the nutrient-rich Humboldt current that supports their food sources. The Punta San Juan Program, focused on the Punta San Juan marine reserve in southern Peru, is securing a future for Humboldt penguins and all the species that share its ecosystem.
Chaco Center for Research and Conservation
Location: Paraguay, Project Since: 2018
Conservation management of the endangered endemic species as well as protection for Chacoan biodiversity. The program has obtained valuable data from camera traps; such as numerous tapirs and big groups of white-lipped peccaries, as a great diversity of small, medium, and large mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians.
Projects in Eurasia
Snow Leopard Trust
Location: South and Central Asia, Project Since: 1998
Snow Leopard Trust (SLT) was founded in 1981 by the late Woodland Park Zoo staff member Helen Freeman. Through innovative programs, effective partnerships, and the latest science, SLT is saving these endangered cats and improving the lives of people. Snow Leopard Trust works with governments and conservationists in all 12 countries in South and Central Asia where snow leopards are found. In several of these countries, SLT has on-the-ground conservation teams that implement community-based conservation and conservation education programs, conduct scientific research and contribute to policy development.
International Rhino Foundation
Location: India , Project Since: 2002
The International Rhino Foundation (IRF), an organization founded in 1993 in response to the escalating crisis facing all five rhino species. The greater one-horned rhino, found only in India, Nepal and Bhutan, population is now growing largely due to the governments of India and Nepal creating habitat for rhinos, while also preventing poaching. Rhinos constantly face the threat of poaching, prompting IRF to take proactive measures centered on empowering frontline forest staff with the skills to detect and investigate illegal activities, reducing future risks. With NGO partners, including IRF, the government of Assam (a state in northeastern India), also conducts translocations of rhinos within protected areas of Assam to give rhinos more room to breed.
Hornbill Research Foundation
Location: Thailand, Project Since: 1997
Protecting hornbills and their habitats with a focus on focus on research, education, and collaboration. Efforts include monitoring nest cavities to improve reproductive success and increase the availability of suitable nesting sites; raising public awareness and participation in hornbill conservation and researching hornbill ecosystems to improve conservation strategies.
Talarak Foundation, Inc.
Location: Negros Occidental, Philippines, Project Since: 2024
Talarak started maintaining and breeding some of the most endangered species endemic to the region, before moving into reforestation, site conservation and wild translocations for these species. The primary goal of the foundation is to conserve and restore the native wildlife of Negros through captive breeding, conservation education, research, public and political engagement, and releases of captive bred animals back into their natural habitats.
Turtle Survival Alliance
Location: Cambodia, Project Since: 2005
Transforming a passion for turtles into conservation action. In 2021 the program successfully released 61 head-started southern river terrapin into their natural habitat of Sre Ambel River System in Southwest Cambodia. Acoustic transmitters were attached to all of the turtles so the research team can study their movement, dispersal, habitat utilization, and survival rate in the wild. For the first time in 20 years, at least five captive females produced clutches at the Koh Kong Reptile Conservation Center.
Partula Recovery and Reintroduction
Location: Society Islands, French Polynesia, Project Since: 2004
To preserve and enhance the survival prospects of all surviving endemic tree snail species of the family Partulidae, that are extinct in the wild, within their natural range in French Polynesia, and to re-establish the international breeding program for Partula species on their natural range islands. Six species were released in 2018 on Tahiti and Moorea islands, and there is evidence of survival.