Conservation Center

We became part of the breeding program in 1991 and since then, over 500 black-footed ferrets have been born at the Zoo. There are only six black-footed ferret breeding facilities in the world, so we are proud to be an integral part of recovery efforts for this species.

We became part of the breeding research program in 2017 and received our first pygmy-owls in 2018. We are helping by breeding pygmy-owls for release to the wild and helping our partners with monitoring of released owls. Our first pygmy-owl release occurred in 2021, with 22 Zoo-raised owls released in southern Arizona.

We began head-starting leopard frogs at the Zoo in 1995 and have released over 26,000 Zoo-reared tadpoles, froglets, and adults. In the wild, approximately 5% or less of the eggs in a Chiricahua leopard frog egg mass may survive to metamorphosis. Head-starting at the Zoo provides protection through this vulnerable life stage. In managed care, as much as 90% of an egg mass may survive to be released as froglets or late-stage tadpoles. By releasing a large number of animals back into suitable sites in the wild, chances are greatly increased that more will survive to adulthood and reproduce, as well as preserving valuable genes. This work is all done in close collaboration with biologists at the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Arizona Game and Fish Department, US Forest Service and other partners.

We also house adult Chiricahua leopard frogs in outdoor naturalistic settings for breeding. When our partners are ready to receive an egg mass for release to the wild, we pair male and female frogs and monitor their habitats for eggs. Since 1995 we have provided 40 egg masses for release to the wild. Occasionally, we may also retain an egg mass for rearing to the larval or juvenile stage.

In 2008, the Zoo became involved in desert pupfish conservation efforts by dedicating ponds on Zoo grounds to raising the fish for release to the wild. Two ponds currently house desert pupfish, one on the Arizona Trail and one on the Africa Trail next to the Giraffe Encounter. Through partner organizations including the Arizona Game and Fish Department and US Fish and Wildlife Service, desert pupfish raised at the Zoo are sent to field sites across southern Arizona to boost or restore wild populations.

The Zoo maintains a breeding population of Gila topminnow. In an effort to increase wild populations of this species, we provide Gila topminnow to the Arizona Game and Fish Department to release at wild and refugium sites.

Beginning in April 2018, the Zoo collaborated with the Arizona Game and Fish Department and US Fish and Wildlife Service to establish a refuge population of Huachuca springsnails at our Johnson Conservation Center. Starting with only a couple hundred individuals, our population has grown to over 10,000 individuals. This has allowed us to begin reintroducing the species in Arizona, in collaboration with our partners at Arizona Game and Fish Department. Huachuca springsnails also serve as a “surrogate species”, helping us refine husbandry and reintroduction methods that will hopefully be useful for the more-imperiled members of its genus.

We maintain a population of Huachuca water umbel at the Zoo as a backup for the wild population.

The Zoo is working with the US Fish and Wildlife Service on a pilot breeding program, focusing on establishing a sustainable method to breed, raise and eventually release Mt. Graham red squirrels into the wild. Field partners working on this effort include Arizona Game and Fish Department, US Forest Service, University of Arizona and others. Conservation Center staff have also conducted and published research on the reproductive biology of Mt. Graham red squirrels.

In 2007, a small group of narrow-headed gartersnakes were brought into the Johnson Conservation Center at the Zoo so we could learn more about their care and management. Wildlife biologists were seeing worrisome declines in the wild, and asked Zoo conservation scientists to help gather information about their life history and reproductive biology with the hopes that we might eventually produce offspring to augment wild populations if needed. On July 2, 2014, we celebrated the first-ever successful breeding and birth of this species in a managed setting when one of the females at the Zoo gave birth to 18 neonates. In 2022, we celebrated the largest number of narrow-headed gartersnakes born at the Zoo, with 40 neonates from four litters (or clutches). This culminated in the largest-ever release of narrowheaded gartersnakes to the wild, with 24 juveniles and one adult released.

The Zoo began working with the San Bernardino springsnail in 2021, and has been attempting to build a population in human care that can serve as a backup for the dwindling wild population and/or as a source of individuals for reintroduction.