Report Highlights Growth and Impact of Zoo’s Conservation Efforts
2024 CSP ANNUAL REPORT: CLICK HERE
LOS ANGELES, CA – Dec. 31, 2024 – The Los Angeles Zoo has released its 2024 Conservation Strategic Plan Annual Report – highlighting critical successes and strides in promoting conservation action in Los Angeles and around the world.
“This year’s report demonstrates the Zoo’s growing, positive impact on conservation and serious strides against the biodiversity crisis we now face,” said Jake Owens, PhD, director of conservation, L.A. Zoo. “From new partnerships established locally and abroad to conservation work being done right here in Griffith Park, Angelenos should feel proud that their Zoo is committed to and expanding its impact on conservation to create a just and sustainable world where people and wildlife thrive, together.”
The Zoo’s Conservation Strategic Plan Annual Report highlights achievements in native habitat restoration with the establishment of Project Pollinator, a collaborative initiative aimed at establishing, restoring, and promoting native plant habitats in and around the Zoo. In addition to local conservation efforts, the Zoo’s impact on the next generation of environmental leaders is evident with the Zoo’s Paid Internship Program and Teen Council for Conservation, aimed at creating opportunities for college students and high school students in Los Angeles, respectively, by forging connections with conservation professionals to develop leadership, career, and conservation skills. The Zoo’s Teen Council for Conservation hosted its first-ever Youth Conservation Symposium in 2024 which was designed by the participating teens and provided local youths with a venue to collaborate in real time on important biodiversity and environmental topics.
Combatting the illegal wildlife trade was front and center for the Los Angeles Zoo. A historic partnership between the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA), U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), and Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) led to the installation of a 26-foot educational display at Los Angeles International Airport’s Tom Bradley International Terminal. This display will reach approximately 9.1 million travelers that pass through the terminal and educate them on how their purchasing decisions abroad can affect wildlife.
This year saw partnerships strengthened to support human-wildlife co-existence, including support of Grauer’s gorillas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo through the preservation of the Usala Conservation Corridor. The L.A. Zoo entered into a new partnership in Amboseli to develop the Noonkotiak Resource Center – a first-of-its-kind collaboration to create a community resource center that supports community livelihoods, sustainable resource management, and human-wildlife co-existence.
In addition to reintroduction activities for the California condor and southern mountain yellow-legged frogs, the Zoo partnered with with ReWilding Argentina, the government of Corrientes, and Argentina’s National Parks Administration, to participate in the first-ever giant river otter translocation from an AZA-accredited zoo to support reintroduction of the species to a part of its range where has gone functionally extinct.
The Los Angeles Zoo’s progress toward its Conservation Strategic Plan is apparent in these and other significant accomplishments. The complete 2024 Conservation Strategic Plan Annual Report, along with the 2022 and 2023 Annual Reports, can be found on the Zoo’s website at https://bit.ly/LAZooCSP.
About the Los Angeles Zoo
The Los Angeles Zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and is dedicated to providing exemplary animal care and wellbeing. As a trusted leader in local and global conservation efforts, the Los Angeles Zoo is saving wildlife and connecting Angelenos to the natural world by delivering diverse learning opportunities and creating unforgettable experiences. The lush 133-acre campus and its passionate and dedicated team welcome all to be inspired by the Zoo’s vision to create a just and sustainable world where people and wildlife thrive, together. The Zoo is located on Zoo Drive in Griffith Park at the junction of the Ventura (134) and Golden State (5) freeways. Admission is $22 for adults and $17 for children ages 2 to 12. For information, call (323) 644-4200 or visit the L.A. Zoo website at www.lazoo.org.
CONTACT: Carl Myers/(323) 644-4273
lazoo.press@lacity.org