Palm Beach Zoo named in top 10

By John Johnston
Managing Editor

The Palm Beach Zoo has achieved national recognition, named as helping to achieve one of the top 10 wildlife conservation success stories for 2007.

The announcement by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) said that the Palm Beach Zoo is one of three zoos in Florida housing and caring for some Perdido Key beach mice – only a few hundred of which are left in the wild, inhabiting just one barrier island off the coast of Pensacola.

The AZA said the mice originated from the University of South Carolina, but needed to be relocated after damage from Hurricane Ivan. The Brevard Zoo, Florida Aquarium and Palm Beach Zoo have since shared in the responsibility of caring for and studying the mice. Breeding studies have begun to prevent the species from becoming extinct.

"AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums are leaders in wildlife conservation and education," said AZA President and CEO Jim Maddy. "The 2007 Top 10 list is just a small sample of the important work of AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums."

In the last five years, AZA-accredited facilities funded 3,693 conservation projects in more than 100 countries. Annual spending on conservation averages nearly $70 million per year, said Maddy.

Others Named

Others named in the top 10 AZA conservation success stories include:

Frogs: frog populations have been in sharp decline, but a fortunate native species is getting a helping hand. Staff members at the Detroit Zoo are raising 40 juvenile Wyoming toads, one of the most endangered amphibians in the United States.

Right Whales: fewer than 400 North Atlantic right whales currently exist in the world. The New England Aquarium's Right Whale Research Project recently developed a hormone test to learn more about the reproductive rates of the endangered species.

Lemurs: The Madagascar Fauna Group (MFG), and the Duke Lemur Center coordinated a plan to reintroduce black-and-white ruffed lemurs zoo-bred lemurs to the wild, with the help of other MFG partners and institutions, including Salt Lake City's Hogle Zoo, the Los Angeles Zoo and the Santa Ana Zoo.

Sea turtles: thanks to cooperation between U.S and Mexican officials and scientists, nesting sites of the Kemp's Ridley sea turtle will be safe. The Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas, and Mexican conservation workers have protected the turtle's nesting sites on beaches in Tamaulipas, Mexico and Padre Island National Seashore.

Zebras: poaching and competition from livestock threaten Grevy’s zebras, but efforts to raise awareness in Kenyan villages have been paying off, reports the St. Louis Zoo.

Sharks: for the third time since 2004, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has placed a young white shark on public exhibit. Through its White Shark Research Project, the Aquarium has worked since 2002 to learn more about white sharks in the wild, and has since tagged and tracked 10 juvenile white sharks off Southern California. White sharks are in decline worldwide.

Butterflies: Floridian zoos have teamed up to protect butterflies. The Florida Butterfly Monitoring Network, which includes Brevard Zoo , Central Florida Zoo , Disney's Animal Kingdom , Jacksonville Zoo , Lowry Park Zoo , and Miami MetroZoo , is working to survey butterfly populations throughout Florida. Monthly counts are taken.

Marmot: the Vancouver Island marmot is the most endangered animal in Canada. The current wild population is estimated at nearly 50 animals, but thanks to breeding centers devoted to the species, such as the Toronto Zoo , the population is now around 150.

Eagles: this year, America's national symbol, the bald eagle, was removed from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Endangered Species List. The San Francisco Zoo has been instrumental in breeding and releasing captive eagles, and has reintroduced more than 100 bald eagles over the past 22 years.