Conservation

Conservation

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Nashville Zoo is tons of fun and a great place to see fascinating animals…but there is also a lot of serious conservation work happening here.

Our experienced staff is actively involved in research, habitat protection, breeding programs and education initiatives around the globe as well as in our own backyard.

Donate to Conservation

Explore our conservation efforts:
Highlighted Conservation Projects
Recent Conservation News
Financial Contributions to Conservation
Species Survival Plans
Green Team

Wild Works Success Stories

Nashville Zoo is dedicated to saving species from extinction and has made a significant impact on several species by pioneering their care, collaborating on innovative breeding programs, protecting their habitats, and more.

 

Highlighted Conservation Projects

 

Clouded Leopard

At Nashville Zoo more than 32 cubs have been born since 2009. All of our clouded leopard cubs are raised by hand. This technique prevents parental predation, enables cubs to be paired at early ages and allows this normally nervous species to become acclimated to the sights and sounds of human interaction typical in an exhibit environment. Read more

Giant Anteater

Eighteen giant anteaters have been born at Nashville Zoo since 2001. The Zoo is recognized as a leader in caring for captive giant anteaters, as well as tamanduas (lesser anteater), and its reproductive success with the breeding of giant anteaters. The Zoo’s animal care and veterinary staff are currently working on an anteater care manual in conjunction with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Program. Read more

Hellbender

Nashville Zoo is proud to be the first organization in the world to breed one of the largest salamanders in the world, Eastern hellbenders, and the first to breed hellbenders using biotechnology. The Zoo’s captive breeding program is now an international collaboration working to save this giant amphibian from extinction. Read more

Loggerhead Shrike

The loggerhead shrike, along with many other grassland bird species, is in steep decline and could decline by half in the next 25 years without significant action. The Nashville Zoo is a participating member of the Eastern Loggerhead Shrike Working Group and has been surveying and monitoring loggerhead shrikes in Middle Tennessee since 2013. Read more

Puerto Rican Crested Toad

Thought to be extinct, the Puerto Rican Crested Toad was rediscovered in the 1960’s. Since then, only a single population has been found to exist in the Guanica State Forest. In collaboration with other AZA accredited zoos and US and Puerto Rican wildlife agencies, Nashville Zoo is successfully breeding thousands of Puerto Rican Crested Toads and releasing them into protected areas of their native land. Read more

Rhinoceros Hornbill

The Nashville Zoo is a proud participant in the Rhinoceros Hornbill Species Survival Plan (SSP) and over the last decade has become the most prolific producer of rhinoceros hornbills in the United States with more than 18% of the hornbills in the SSP being hatched from the Nashville Zoo. Read more.

 

Recent Conservation News

View all conservation blog posts

 

Financial Contributions to Conservation

When the Zoo can’t be actively involved, we contribute proceeds gained from your support to a wide array of incredible efforts organized by other environmental protection programs. Major contributions since 2012 include:

Andean Bear Conservation Alliance

Association for the Conservation of Amazonian Biodiversity

Bat Conservation International

Bowling for Rhinos

Caribbean Wildlife AllianceSupporting Puerto Rican Crested Toad conservation

Cheetah Conservation Fund

Clouded Leopard Consortium

Clouded Leopard Project

Duke Lemur Center

Garissa Giraffe ProjectSupporting Reticulated Giraffe conservation

Giant Anteater ProjectSupporting efforts in Brazil

Giant Armadillo Project

Giraffe Conservation Foundation

Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education

Houston Zoo's Conservation EffortsSupporting Rhinoceros Hornbill conservation in Borneo

Instituto di Pesquisas EcologicasTapir, Giant Anteater & Giant Armadillo in Brazil

International Elephant FoundationSupporting efforts in Nigeria’s Yankari Game Preserve

International Rhino FoundationSupporting efforts in Zimbabwe

Lewa Wildlife ConservancySupporting rhino and zebra conservation

Lowland Tapir Conservation InitiativeSupporting efforts in Brazil

Minnesota Zoo's Tiger Conservation CampaignSupporting efforts in Sumatra and Asia

National Elephant Center

Niassa Lion Project

Point Defiance Zoo's ConservationSupporting clouded leopard conservation

Proyecto TitiSupporting Cotton-top Tamarin conservation

Rainforest Awareness Rescue Education CenterSupporting Amazonian manatee and woolly monkey conservation

Rainforest Trust

Rare Species Conservation TrustSupporting clouded leopard and civet conservation

Red Panda NetworkSupporting efforts in Nepal

Royal Zoological Society of ScotlandSupporting Pallas' cat field work in Iran, Nepal, Mongolia and Kazakhstan

Save Vietnam's WildlifeSupporting pangolin conservation

SiaSupporting eagle conservation

Tapir Project

Turtle Survival Alliance

Vaquita Rescue ProjectSupporting vaquita porpoise conservation

Wildlife Conservation GlobalSupporting okapi conservation

Wildlife Conservation NetworkSupporting cheetah, painted dog and Andean bear conservation

Wildlife Conservation SocietySupporting elephant conservation

Species Survival Plan

Nashville Zoo participates in a number of Species Survival Plan programs with other zoos worldwide. Most SSP species are endangered or threatened in the wild. Each SSP carefully manages the breeding of a species in order to maintain a healthy and self-sustaining captive population that is both genetically diverse and demographically stable.

African-crested Porcupine
Andean Bear
Baird's Tapir
Beaded Lizard
Blue-crowned Motmot
Bontebok
Clouded Leopard
Cotton-top Tamarin
Cougar
Eastern Bongo
Eland
Eurasian Eagle Owl
Galapagos Tortoise
Giant Anteater
Great Blue Turaco
Green Aracari
Green Woodhoopoe
Haitian Giant Galliwasp
Hyacinth Macaw
Indigo Snake
Komodo Dragon
Lesser Madagascar Tenrec
Linne's Two-toed Sloth
Lined Seahorse
Masai Giraffe
Meerkat
Mexican Lance-headed Rattlesnake
Mexican Spider Monkey
Ocellated River Stingray
Okapi
Palawan Binturong
Panamanian Gold Frog
Plush-crested Jay
Puerto Rican Crested Toad
Red-capped Cardinal
Red Panda
Red River Hog
Red-ruffed Lemur
Rhinoceros Hornbill
Ring-tailed Lemur
Saddle-billed Stork
Siamang
Silver-beaked Tanager
Snowy Owl
Southern Cassowary
Southern Crested Screamer
Southern Pudu
Southern Three-banded Armadillo
Southern White Rhinoceros
Spotted Turtle
Springbok
Sumatran Tiger
Tamandua
White-blotched River Stingray
White-cheeked Gibbon
Yellow-backed Duiker
Yellow-blotched Map Turtle
Yellow-blotched Sawback Turtle
 

Green Team

The Nashville Zoo Green Team is an internal committee that meets monthly to discuss, plan, and implement ways in which the Nashville Zoo can be more sustainable, resourceful and environmentally conscious. It is the Green Team’s mission to “pursue efficient and sustainable practices while promoting, educating and leading our community towards improving environmental responsibility.”

The Green Team hosts the semiannual Green Sweep cleanup of the Zoo property, has implemented bottle filling water fountains, enhanced Zoo recycling programs, and conducted energy audits that have reduced electricity, water usage and the Zoo’s carbon footprint.

View recent Green Team news