Population Management Center

Cooperative scientific population management allows zoos and aquaria to maintain healthy captive populations. Population management has two primary objectives:

to maintain zoo and aquarium collections at the sizes necessary to meet conservation and education goals for each species;
to ensure that populations do not grow beyond the zoo and aquarium community's ability to care for them.

Why the Population Management Center?

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums's Species Survival Plan® (SSP) and Population Management Plan (PMP) programs have been successful in ensuring that selected captive populations are managed responsibly. However, as the number of these programs increases, so has the need for technical assistance. AZA has created the Population Management Center in Chicago to conduct genetic and demographic analyses and to develop and distribute population management plans.

Fact Sheets

Center Staff

The Population Management Center draws on the population biology expertise of staff at AZA member institution Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. The center employs three full-time staff: Senior Population Biologist Sarah Long directs daily operations and supervises Associate Population Biologist Louise Bier and Studbook Analyst Kristine Schad. Steven Thompson, Vice President and Emily and John Alexander Chair of Conservation and Science at Lincoln Park Zoo, provides administrative and financial oversight for the center. PMC staff also draw on the expertise and experience of population biologists Joanne Earnhardt, Ph.D. and Lisa Faust, Ph.D., from the zoo's Alexander Center for Applied Population Biology. Former PMC staffer Colleen Lynch serves as consulting population biologist.

Population Management Center Services

The center's top priority is to assist zoo professionals with preparing and distributing population analyses and breeding plans for Species Survival Plan and Population Management Plan species. The center staff assists zoo professionals with every step of a population management plan.

First, center staff ensures that data for the managed species are clean and accurate. The current status of the population is determined, and predictions about its future status are made. Based on these results, recommendations are made instructing how many births are necessary as well as which individuals to breed and which not to breed. Finally, the center sends a report of analyses and recommendations to all institutions participating in the management plan.

As an additional service, the two population biologists and studbook analyst are available to provide help line type assistance, via e-mail or telephone, to studbook keepers, species coordinators and population managers.

Contact the Population Management Center

To schedule planning assistance from the Population Management Center, please email Studbook Analyst or call (312) 742-7250.
To contact a population biologist about your program, e-mail or call Senior Population Biologist Sarah Long or call 312-742-3993 or Associate Population Biologist Louise Bier or call 312-742-7229).
For information Population Management Center operations and oversight, email Steven D. Thompson, Ph.D., Vice President of Conservation and Science, Lincoln Park Zoo or call 312-742-7765).