THE DALLAS ZOO’S MISSION IS
ENGAGING PEOPLE & SAVING WILDLIFE.
Our mission drives everything we do as a conservation-focused organization. We believe that the key to protecting wildlife lies in empowering and inspiring communities to coexist harmoniously with the natural world. To achieve this, our conservation efforts are guided by four core pillars:
COMMUNITY
Fostering local capacity to support coexistence with wildlife ECOSYSTEMS
Protecting and restoring habitats to sustain biodiversity
2024 was a record-setting year for conservation investment, with more than $1.5 million dedicated to conservation action! $1.5M
Protecting the Twelve
This year, the Dallas Zoo continues to build on its commitment to conservation, focusing on 12 key species and their ecosystems. Since 2018, we’ve worked to make a measurable impact on the protection of these species, their habitats, and the people who share their environments.
The goal is to have measurable impacts in each category within 12 years – by the year 2030.
$5.5M
From 2018 to 2024, the Dallas Zoo has invested more than $5.5 million in Protecting the Twelve conservation efforts.
ECOSYSTEMS: Protecting
Monarchs and the Prairie
Each year, monarch butterflies embark on an incredible migration across North America. The principal flyway of the journey passes directly over North Texas, making our region critical to their survival. At the Dallas Zoo, we are working to restore native habitats, ensuring monarchs and other pollinators have the resources they need to complete their journey.
Since 2019, we’ve tagged more than 700 monarch butterflies, contributing vital data to international research initiatives that monitor migration patterns and population trends. In 2024 alone, our team tagged 149 monarchs. These efforts help scientists understand the challenges monarchs face and inform broader conservation strategies.
Beyond monarchs, our restored plot of Blackland Prairie provides food and shelter for countless pollinators, birds, and small mammals. By reintroducing native plants, we are revitalizing an ecosystem that once dominated North Texas, creating a "living laboratory" of sorts on our campus where our Wild Earth Preschoolers explore nature firsthand.
Through our partnership with Texas Conservation Alliance, the Native Plant Propagation Center grows thousands of native plants annually, supporting habitat restoration efforts across the state. Since its inception, we’ve cultivated and distributed 32,269 plants, including 10,017 this past year.
By restoring prairie landscapes and engaging in research, we are strengthening the intricate web of life that supports not just monarchs, but entire ecosystems. Our work ensures these vital habitats remain resilient for generations to come.
EDUCATION: Supporting Empathy and Awareness for Raptors
Before a conservation effort can drive forward, conservationists must ensure the community is aware of and connected to the conservation issue. In Costa Rica, the Dallas Zoo works to protect critical habitat for millions of migrating raptors – one of the densest populations of birds of prey in the entire world.
The Dallas Zoo works with local Costa Rican partners, EcoVida Lapa Verde Reserve and Holbrook Travel, and the municipal government of the Sarapiqui province. With those partners, the Zoo helped create the inaugural RaptorFest: Alas Viajeras.
The Dallas Zoo team assisted in the design and planning of the festival, and sent staff members from our education and marketing department to help local partners launch the event. The event was a rousing success, with hundreds of local families visiting the reserve and festival, learning about the many raptor species migrating through the region, and watching hundreds of thousands of raptors migrate.
Watch the Raptor Migration
Conservation: Local Impact with Global Reach
In 2024, the Dallas Zoo’s international conservation work with communities deepened while our contributions increased as we focused on supporting the communities who live around the wildlife we so passionately work to protect.
We successfully hatched two chicks at the Whooping Crane Center of Texas and contributed $75,000 to the International Crane Foundation to help protect this iconic species.
We celebrated five years of dedicated conservation work for Houston toads!
Since 2019, we have released over 250,000 eggs and tadpoles into the wild.
We work with Giraffe Conservation Foundation to protect giraffes in Namibia. This year, two Dallas Zoo staff members assisted with research at Etosha National Park, supporting population monitoring and habitat assessments.
Our staff and volunteers contributed 138 hours to monitor Eastern box turtles at Caddo Lake Wildlife Management Area, using telemetry and conservation dogs to gather insights for habitat restoration and species protection efforts.
Through our partnership with VulPro, we help protect key breeding sites for vultures in southern Africa. We also send two Dallas Zoo staff members each year to assist VulPro with nest surveys.
Direct Action in Conservation Projects
Funding Support for Conservation Partners
We’ve partnered with 40 organizations to drive community-based conservation work in 23 countries around the world.
We are actively tracking 10 Sumatran tigers in Thirty Hills, a vital rainforest area in Sumatra, collecting crucial data to support the conservation of this critically endangered species.
In partnership with the African Penguin Nest Project, we’ve installed over 2,000 nests in South Africa and Namibia, providing safe spaces for African penguins to lay eggs and raise their chicks.
Protecting the Twelve Investment, 2018-2024
$3,137,029 Elephant
COMMUNITY: Building Capacity for
Gorilla Conservation
In 2024, one of the Dallas Zoo’s longtime conservation partners, the Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education Center (GRACE), celebrated the grand opening of a much-anticipated community center in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which is dedicated to the Dallas Zoo’s former CEO.
The Gregg Hudson Community Center will serve as a key gathering place for the GRACE team, as well as for the entire community, where locals travel up to six hours just for internet access to send an email.
The new Center provides the broader community access to computers, the internet, and a small library. In addition, the Community Center can be used to host workshops or as a space for community associations to meet. This is the kind of resource that can help the community connect, learn, and grow.
“This means the world to our community. It is a long-time dream which became truth now. We are in a remote area where access to good infrastructure is difficult. This Community Center will provide internet so that we are connected to the world, and students can learn new technologies. It will host events like community meetings and group training, etc. It is a real value add in our region,” says Jackson Kabuyaya Mbeke, GRACE DRC Director.
As the community’s needs are met, they are better positioned to support a healthy forest for gorillas and support the GRACE and Dallas Zoo partnership to rehabilitate and release rescued gorillas back into the wild.
SUSTAINABILITY: Protecting Resources for Wildlife
A key effort in conservation is protecting the resources upon which wildlife and people depend. For the Dallas Zoo, this conservation work starts right here on our campus. We have a goal to reduce water usage and water loss by 30%.
This year, we focused on repairing or replacing water lines across our campus. This infrastructure investment is making us more effective through reduced water loss and is saving us millions of gallons of water.
Sustainability $ave$! The Dallas Zoo not only saved over $7,400 per month in water costs, but also strengthened a commitment to sustainable practices that protect wildlife and habitats.
Water conservation is essential for healthy ecosystems for wildlife and for people, especially during droughts when every drop matters. These infrastructure investments enable us to provide the best animal welfare, operate more efficiently, and protect one of our state's most important natural resources — water.
List of Conservation Partners
Association
AZA
AZA
Boy
Cheetah
City
Dyer
EarthX
Oak