Fresno Chaffee Zoo in Fresno, Calif., celebrated the groundbreaking of its new Conservation Action Center in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Reclamation on 13 February 2023. The Center will serve as a site for continued conservation efforts with the blunt-nosed lizard managed breeding program.
In 2020, the Fresno Chaffee Zoo joined the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Fresno State to collect the last blunt-nosed leopard lizards from the Panoche Plateau to create the breeding program.
Over the past few years, Fresno Chaffee Zoo has maintained the breeding program and collected vital data that improves our understanding of the endangered species. Now, in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Reclamation, the Zoo will begin construction on its Conservation Action Center.
“The blunt-nosed leopard lizard breeding program is a catalyst for the Zoo’s impact in local conservation work,” said Fresno Chaffee Zoo Chief Executive Officer and Director, Jon Forrest Dohlin. “This is a major milestone for the Zoo. We have supported several conservation organizations over the years, and now, thanks to our partnerships, we are poised to become leaders in local conservation science to help save native California species.”
The Conservation Action Center will serve as the anchor of the Zoo’s future conservation initiatives. This new facility allows guests to see the Zoo’s conservation work in action. Guests will be able to view the day-to-day operations of the critical care and research it takes to help save the blunt-nosed leopard lizard.
“The construction and operation of this center will be a vital part to recovering the blunt-nosed leopard lizard and many other species,” said Michael Fris, field supervisor of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office. “Endangered species recovery is complex and difficult work, and the Service is grateful to the Fresno Chaffee Zoo, and all our partners for their commitment to ensuring this species has a future in California,”
The project was only possible with the financial support of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Reclamation through a series of grants. Measure Z additionally funded a portion of the building.
“The community has always supported our Zoo in our endeavors to help save species worldwide,” said Chief Operations Officer, Lyn Myers. “Now, thanks to our partners and our communities’ support through Measure Z, we can become leaders in local conservation in the Central Valley.”
Edited by Sarah Gilsoul, a writer and Communications Program Assistant at AZA.
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