CONSERVATION
At Fresno Chaffee Zoo, conservation is a part of everything we do. From animal and exhibit care to water usage and plant life, the Zoo is always working to conserve nature’s resources to help ensure their sustainability for generations to come.
The Zoo is a proud sponsor of conservation projects both locally and globally. When you visit the Zoo, part of your admission helps support these conservation efforts and our vision for a just future that begins with us and makes possible a world where people and wildlife thrive together.
Leading the Way
Saving the Blunt-Nosed Leopard Lizard
At Fresno Chaffee Zoo, we are working with partners to re-establish a sustainable population of blunt-nosed leopard lizards on the Panoche Plateau through a carefully managed breeding and reintroduction program. Without this program, these lizards would likely be extinct.
The blunt-nosed leopard lizard is found only in California’s San Joaquin Valley. Populations live throughout the Valley, but the Zoo’s research and recovery focuses on the threatened Panoche Plateau lizards. The work we’re doing to save the Plateau population is helping us better understand how to protect the species as a whole.
Thank You to Our Partners
Coexist with Wildlife, California
In 2024, Fresno Chaffee Zoo worked with partner institutions across California to create a campaign to spread awareness about the important and, often endangered, wildlife at home in our state. This year was monumental in that 2024 marked the 100th anniversary that the California grizzly bear, a state icon, was last seen in the state. You can take action to coexist with wildlife by learning more about our local species!
Wildlife Conservation Fund
Fresno Chaffee Zoo supports critical research projects that protect and preserve wildlife and wild places around the world. Since 2006, the Fresno Chaffee Zoo Wildlife Conservation Fund has worked with dozens of individuals and organizations to further research, expand conservation impact, share knowledge, and engage local communities.
OUR CONSERVATION PARTNERS
Wildlife Conservation Fund
AZA SAFE (Saving Animals From Extinction) focuses the collective expertise within AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums and leverages their massive audiences to save species. Programs are created and run by zoo and aquarium professionals throughout AZA, including here at Fresno Chaffee Zoo. The Zoo is currently a partner of the following SAFE Programs: African Elephant, Colobus Monkey, African Lion, Orangutan, Shark and Ray, Sloth Bear, Gibbon, Red Wolf, Western Pond Turtle, Monarch, and Andean Flamingo.
Sustainable Palm Oil
Fresno Chaffee Zoo is a proud member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil that comes from palms grown in tropical countries. It is used in many food, cosmetics, bath and household products. Palm oil itself is not bad, but the unsustainable way that it’s produced is destroying the habitats of orangutans, tigers, hornbills, and other wildlife. Deforestation-free palm oil is possible, but will only happen if we support it.
Use PalmOil Scan, produced under the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) to check if the product you are about to purchase is made by a company using certified sustainable palm oil.
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