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Audubon Nature Insti­tute and San Diego Zoo Global break ground for The Alliance for Sus­tain­able Wildlife: A con­ser­va­tion alliance to enhance the sus­tain­abil­ity of threat­ened ani­mal populations

Officials from Audubon Nature Insti­tute and San Diego Zoo Global Wildlife Con­ser­vancy took the first steps today in build­ing a breed­ing cen­tre for rare and endan­gered species. The site that will house the Alliance for Sus­tain­able Wildlife.

The inno­v­a­tive breed­ing pro­gramme of this Alliance will devise strate­gies to ensure sus­tain­able pop­u­la­tions of unique and endan­gered zoo ani­mals. The Alliance will be a haven for more than two dozen endan­gered and threat­ened mam­mal and bird species, includ­ing giraffe, okapi, bon­gos, flamin­gos, storks and pelicans.

“With this part­ner­ship, we break new ground — both lit­er­ally and fig­u­ra­tively,” said For­man. “These facil­i­ties, which will breed an impor­tant col­lec­tion of declin­ing species, sym­bol­ise how the alliance between Audubon Nature Insti­tute and the San Diego Zoo cre­ates a new model for col­lab­o­ra­tion, accel­er­at­ing our efforts on behalf of wildlife conservation.”

Audubon Nature Insti­tute and San Diego Zoo Global will begin con­struc­tion on the 400 hectare Alliance for Sus­tain­able Wildlife in the Freeport-​McMoRan Audubon Species Sur­vival Cen­ter on New Orleans’ West Bank in March 2014. The Alliance will estab­lish a one-​of-​a-​kind resource for zoos and aquar­i­ums to rebuild ani­mal col­lec­tions that are in dan­ger of disappearing.

“We are in a crit­i­cal era where species are dis­ap­pear­ing almost every day.” said Dou­glas G. Myers, Pres­i­dent of San Diego Zoo Global. “It is our hope that the lead­er­ship we show today in join­ing together to com­bat extinc­tion will start a trend that will con­tinue around the world until all species have been pre­served for future generations.”

As cur­rently planned, the project will be built in four phases over the next four years with the first ani­mals arriv­ing in Octo­ber 2014. Ini­tial con­struc­tion will largely involve fence instal­la­tion, road build­ing and new barns for giraffe and okapi. The ani­mals will enjoy room to roam in large open areas designed to show­case the nat­ural setting.

The Alliance is a once-​in-​a-​lifetime oppor­tu­nity to trans­form the zoo and aquar­ium indus­try by ensur­ing that the ani­mals that instill a life­long appre­ci­a­tion for wildlife and con­ser­va­tion today will engage and inspire future gen­er­a­tions of vis­i­tors. Offi­cials hope to begin mov­ing herds of ani­mals into the site in early Fall 2014.

(Source: Audubon Nature Insti­tute press release, 08.01.2014; web­site San Diego Zoo Global Wildlife Con­ser­vancy)