Collaboration and Innovation

Heat Wave Evacuation

When local desert reached lethal temperatures of more than 109 degrees Fahrenheit, it was too hot for even heat-hardy desert tortoises to handle. Together with our partners, we launched an emergency rescue to move fragile hatchlings and unhatched eggs to a climate-controlled space inside The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Palm Desert until things cooled off. These endangered desert tortoises are part of our conservation breeding program to save the species.

To understand the effects of rising temperatures on desert tortoises, our teams fitted tortoises under our care with vitamin-sized, noninvasive sensors that detect movements and external temperatures. When placed on tortoises in their native habitats, these sensors could provide critical information about tortoise activity, behavior, and response to climate change.

Listening In

We deployed recording devices to record the boisterous calls of thick-billed parrots in two nesting areas in the Sierra Madre mountains of Chihuahua, Mexico. With the help of artificial intelligence programs, we will analyze the recordings to measure parrot calls per area and time, providing us crucial information about parrot abundance , and how we can continue to work with our Mexican partners to protect these endangered birds and their forest habitat.

Two endangered thick-billed parrot chicks fledged this year at the Safari Park. Each bird is an important addition to the global population, and we’re working to protect them in native habitat.

Keeping Birds Safe

The Zoo and Safari Park continue to take extensive measures to protect the birds in our care from the contagious highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). Enhanced biosecurity measures have included isolating our birds from wild migratory birds, continuing regular health assessments, quarantining new arrivals or those showing symptoms, ensuring robust sanitization practices, and more.

To date, these steps have kept birds in our care safe from this fatal pathogen . While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention consider the risk of HPAI to the public low, we constantly monitor the situation and take appropriate measures to protect the birds, our staff, and the public.

Flamingos have greeted guests at the San Diego Zoo since 1932. When the birds were moved to a protected area safe from HPAI, flamingo statues temporarily welcomed visitors instead!

Small Rodents With Big Impact

San Bernardino and Stephens’ kangaroo rats are critical to the biodiversity of Southwestern landscapes, supporting plant growth by scattering seeds and aerating soil as they burrow. In 2022, we worked with partners to add the San Bernardino species to the California Endangered Species Act. Meanwhile, our conservation work helped downlist the Stephens’ kangaroo rat from endangered to threatened.