National Endangered Species Day 2008

The third annual National Endangered Species Day is scheduled for May 16, 2008.

Endangered Species Day — which was declared a national day of observance by the US Senate in 2006 — celebrates AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums significant contributions to conservation education, cooperative breeding and field conservation, both at home and abroad. AZA zoos and aquariums can deliver powerful, positive messages that encourage visitors to join them in taking action to help wildlife. Endangered Species Day is the perfect venue to bring that message to your visitors.

Last year, zoos and aquariums throughout the country — along with botanical gardens and arboretums, community and environmental groups, schools, and individuals — celebrated Endangered Species Day with exhibits, special presentations, tours and other activities.

AZA members can participate in the 2008 Endangered Species Day by:

Organizing displays of their threatened and endangered species.
Distributing fliers and background information prior to and on Endangered Species Day.
Holding on-site presentations with guest speakers and encouraging media coverage.
Promoting Endangered Species Day (including activities) in newsletter articles, and news releases to local media.
Develop a Conservation Passport that includes photos/descriptions of threatened/endangered species for visitors to see at their institution.
For example, the San Francisco Zoo created a "Conservation Passport" that was provided to over 2,500 schoolchildren. This passport highlights endangered species on exhibit at the Zoo and conservation information. In addition to species pages, a checklist page of easily achievable "conservation actions" is included. Interactivity was built into the program by encouraging the child to mail back the "actions" page along with a brief story of how they chose that action and what they did to complete it. These inspiring conservation stories may be included in membership communications, etc.

Have questions?

Contact Drew Weiner, Director of Major Gifts, San Francisco Zoological Society, 415/753-7282, or Kathy Lehnhardt, Curator of Education, Disney Animal Kingdom, 407/939-7340. Visit the Endangered Species website for additional resources, including tool kits and educational activities.