Featured Image Credit: Wikipedia
By: Laura O’Brien
Oakland Zoo’s ‘Quarters for Conservation’ program which allocates 25 cents per ticket to its conservation partners around the world raised a whopping $126,000 for conservation efforts this year. Since the program began in 2012, it has raised a grand total of $620,000 for wildlife conservation. The success of the program has spurred the zoo to ramp up its efforts even further, doubling their contribution per ticket (to 50 cents), and including a portion of zoo membership fees as well. With these changes, the zoo is expecting to raise well over $250,000 for conservation next year.
Half of the funds which were raised this year will go to the Iinnii Initiative, Proyecto Titi in Colombia, and Oakland Zoo’s Frog and Toad Biodiversity Project. Those programs help American bison, cotton-top tamarin monkeys, and native frogs and toads, respectively.
A quarter of the funds will go to conservation programs at the zoo itself; such as their programs for California condors and Western pond turtles.
The final quarter of funds will go to their conservation partners such as the Marine Mammal Center, Reticulated Giraffe Project, Kibale Fuel Wood Project, The Budongo Snare Removal Project, Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Center, Ventana Wildlife Society, Bay Area Puma Project, ARCAS wildlife rescue in Guatemala, and EWASO Lions.
This upcoming year, the zoo plans to unveil their new exhibit, the California Trail. The director of conservation at the zoo, Amy Gotliffe, expressed Oakland Zoo’s intentions for the new exhibit, “it was our vision when creating California Trail, to share the stage with organizations that support California wildlife. We hope the work that they do for mountain lions, black bears and grey wolves fosters connection, pride, and knowledge-based action for all of our Zoo visitors and community”. The zoo’s dedication to native wildlife is reflected in their new featured partners for the 2018 fundraiser, which will focus on conserving native Californian species. Some of the featured partners next year will be Bear League, Mountain Lion Foundation, and California Wolf Center.
Learn more from our source.