Zoological Society of San Diego DBA San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
End extinction
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
San Diego Zoo Global is committed to saving species worldwide by uniting our expertise in animal care and conservation science with our dedication to inspiring passion for nature.
Our vision is to lead the fight against extinction.
In order to lead the fight against extinction, San Diego Zoo Global will need to:
--Unite internally and externally, with a laser focus on our cause.
--Fight against extinction of animal and plant species.
--Ignite a life-changing passion for wildlife.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Saving the Northern White Rhinoceros
With only two northern white rhinos remaining in the world, both females that cannot reproduce, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance committed to bringing this species back from the brink of extinction through the use of assisted reproductive and genetic technologies. At San Diego Zoo Global’s Nikita Kahn Rhino Rescue Center, an interdisciplinary team including animal care and veterinary staff, along with reproductive physiologists and geneticists, are working with southern white rhinos as a model for developing advanced reproductive technologies to establish a sustainable population of northern white rhinos using banked genetic material from our Frozen Zoo, a repository of cryogenically preserved cell cultures and reproductive material.
The Reproductive Sciences team is accelerating investigations into the reproductive processes of the southern white rhino, including description of the estrous cycle through fecal hormone monitoring and ultrasound of the reproductive tract; in vitro oocyte maturation, fertilization, and embryo production; semen collection and cryopreservation; production of sperm from gonadal stem cells; and dietary and microbial influences on fertility. Our goal is that these southern white rhino females will one day be surrogate mothers for northern white rhino calves produced through genetic rescue.
Conservation in Kenya
Conservation initiatives are most successful when they focus on the needs of local people as well as wildlife. In Kenya, our work with the Northern Rangelands Trust—an umbrella organization that creates and manages a network of 35 pastoralist community conservancies—and with pastoralist community partners benefits African animals with a focus on elephants, rhinos, giraffes, zebras, hirola antelope, leopards, and vultures.
Community conservancies underpin SDZWA’s species-specific conservation projects. Our full-spectrum conservation initiatives focus on species that range from “Vulnerable” to “Critically Endangered” on the IUCN Red List. These programs include the Twiga Walinzi, or Giraffe Guards program, which has hired 11 local people who now work on reticulated giraffe conservation. Others include the hirola antelope conservation postdoctoral program; Reteti Elephant Sanctuary and Orphanage; Sera Wildlife Conservancy black rhino reintroductions; leopard conservation and conflict reduction; coexistence for elephants and people; lion conservation with Ewaso Lions; the Grevy’s Zebra Trust and others.
Some on our team work on solving questions about the animals we are protecting: where do giraffes roam, how many leopards live within a conservancy, or how to prevent disease transmission in endangered hirola antelope. Our social scientists also gather information on how people interact with wildlife, the needs and priorities of those who share the land in these conservancies, and the best ways to support coexistence: we call this “human dimension” information. It informs the design of our conservation work, helping us create conservation
messages that resonate with local values and culture. These can be combined with ecological data to determine which areas have vulnerable wildlife and need ranger patrols. Overall, the community conservancy approach not only benefits wildlife but also the entire community.
From the Amazon to the Andes
One of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance's major conservation initiatives is to help save species in South America, including jaguars, giant otters, and Andean bears. We work closely with local communities throughout the region, contributing to the conservation of tropical biodiversity by improving infrastructure, educating the public, building conservation capacity, and promoting and conducting innovative scientific research.
Our Cocha Cashu Biological Station in Peru’s Manu National Park offers unrivaled opportunities to study the workings of nature largely undisturbed by humans, providing critical insights into the biodiversity and processes of an intact rain forest with healthy populations of ecologically important or endangered species, such as spider monkeys, white-lipped peccaries, giant otters, tapirs and jaguars. Our field course at Cocha Cashu also prepares Peruvian college students to pursue careers in tropical ecology and conservation: 90 percent of graduates are currently active in conservation research at universities and NGOs.
We monitor wildlife populations in Peru using GPS tracking, trail cameras, and remote audio recorders. To learn how Andean bears move between habitats in order to access key resources, we gather data on spatial behaviors and landscape use ranging from high-elevation open grasslands to dense cloud forests. Peru is also a hotspot of floral diversity, and we have established a digital herbarium of over 100,000 images that cover 80 years of botanical exploration in the area.
Where we work
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of animals in collection
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This estimated number includes only animals in direct care of San Diego Zoo Global at our guest facing animal sanctuaries, the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
Number of species in collection
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This estimated number includes only animals in direct care of San Diego Zoo Global at our guest facing animal sanctuaries, the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
Number of species reintroduced to the area(s)
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
In 2017, more than 30 species were reintroduced back into the wild.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The core tenets of our culture:
1. Make a difference for wildlife.
2. Share the wonder of nature.
3. Feel the passion for what we do.
4. Breed financial stability.
5. Succeed together.
6. Remember the Roar...and pass it on!
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Unite: Focus on stemming the tide of species extinction by rallying our internal stakeholders around our vision, and building a mighty league of external collaborators.
Strategies to unite:
1. Build Capacity
Focus internally and externally on organizational capacity building: select critical collaborators whose strengths increase our reach, and boost the bench strength of our staff, board, and volunteers.
2. Maximize our Resources
Ensure that we have the financial capacity and fiscal responsibility to become the most effective wildlife conservation organization in the world...both now and in the future!
Fight: Fight extinction with an integrated conservation approach that includes both the species in our care as well as animals and plants in the wild.
Strategies to fight:
1. Pick our Battles
As much as we want to, we can't save every species, and we can't do it alone. We will prioritize and focus our work on the species that are the best fit for our niche.
2. Lead the Change
Enhance our emphasis on full-spectrum conservation, applying leading-edge scientific methods and husbandry solutions to our priority species.
3. Sustain the Momentum
Collaborate with others who can maintain our conservation efforts as long as necessary.
Ignite: Awaken a global audience to take personal responsibility for the future of wildlife.
Strategies to Ignite:
1. Ignite Passion
Spark an obsession for saving wildlife.
2. Recruit Champions
Use grand gestures and unique methods to attract advocates to our cause.
3. Inspire Personal Responsibility
Provide people with a new way of life: specific individual actions that we each must take in order to make a change in the wildlife conservation landscape.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
San Diego Zoo Global is uniquely qualified to lead the fight against extinction. Our core strength is in the thousands of people over the course of 100 years who have built a credible knowledge base and history of caring for the most rare and endangered plants and animals on the planet. We are collaborative, innovative, and hopeful--all key attributes for succeeding in the position.
Skills:
Leadership. We've been the first to initiate many things, such as housing rare animals for the first time in the U.S. and having the first of many species born at a zoo. But leadership is not about doing things first, it's in teaching others how to replicate our first-time successes. It's also in collaborating with global partners to further mutual goals.
Communication. We reach tens of millions of people each year, either through media or by visitation to one of our parks. Each person we reach is someone who can make a choice to support ending extinction. Our communication style is factual and hopeful, with intent to inspire people to positive action.
Science. Our knowledge and application of natural sciences is second to none. We are the ones people come to when they need expertise for saving critically endangered species. We are training the next generation of conservationists.
Experience:
Koala Breeding and Conservation, 1925-present
San Diego Zoo Global was the first to host koalas outside of Australia, starting in 1925. In 1960, we were the first to breed them in the U.S. Today we not only manage the largest colony outside of Australia, we also provide research support to koala conservation projects in the wild.
California Condor Recovery, 1982-present
A bird that was nearly extinct in the wild is now flying again in its native range, thanks to the leadership of San Diego Zoo Global and its collaboration with many partners. Once considered an impossible project, the California condor program has not only been successful, it has become a model for other bird conservation projects worldwide.
Hundreds of additional examples available upon request.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Conservation Results
Here are a few key metrics and results that demonstrate the scope of our work and reference the power of recruiting champions to join us in the fight against extinction:
*Currently, over 230 at-risk species (IUCN- or USFWS- listed) are the focus of active SDZG conservation work.
*Of these, 48 species were successfully bred at the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park last year.
*SDZG conservation projects highlighted 143 of these species.
*In 2014, SDZG carried out or supported conservation work in 76 countries worldwide, in collaboration with over 250 partner organizations.
Collaborative Reintroduction Programs
Key species reintroduction programs that demonstrate collaborative conservation success:
Addax - 14 partners
Andean condor - 6 partners
Anegada iguana - 6 partners
California condor - 8 partners
Desert tortoise - 3 partners
Guam rail - 3 partners
Indian rhino - 3 partners
Light-footed clapper rail - 9 partners
Pacific pocket mouse - 3 partners
Mountain yellow-legged frog - 6 partners
Nene - 8 partners
Peninsular pronghorn - 8 partners
Przewalski's horse - 4 partners
Puaiohi - 8 partners
San Clemente loggerhead shrike - 4 partners
Saiga - 5 partners
Scimitar-horned oryx - 13 partners
Southern ground hornbill - 6 partners
Stephens' kangaroo rat - 5 partners
Tasmanian devil - 4 partners
Turks & Caicos iguana - 6 partners
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Zoological Society of San Diego DBA San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
Board of directorsas of 04/05/2024
Mr. Javade Chaudhri
Mr. Steven Simpson
Robert Horsman
Steven Tappan
Richard Gulley
Javade Chaudhri
Cliff Hague
Ryan Sullivan
Steven Simpson
Rolf Benirschke
Kathleen Cain
Joye Blount
Linda J. Lowenstine
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
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