Saving Wildlife with Each Visit:

Each time you visit the animals at the Oakland Zoo, you will be helping animals in the wild. The Oakland Zoo has launched a new initiative called Quarters for Conservation, which will dramatically enhance our ability to support wildlife conservation. You, our members and visitors, will be part of this exciting evolution in conservation.

A clean and beautiful stretch of the Arroyo Viejo Creek runs through the Oakland Zoo grounds, secretly flowing under the entrance road to the Park. The Arroyo Viejo Creek Restoration Project began with a mission to repair damaged and neglected stream areas by preventing bank erosion, increasing stability, and improving habitat for creek wildlife.

Done in partnership with the California Coastal Conservancy, the California Department of Parks and Recreation, Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, and the City of Oakland Measure DD Bond, the project was completed in early 2007. The goal was to increase native plant species, wildlife habitat and public access along with creating outdoor classrooms near the creek banks.

Did you know that each visitor to the Oakland Zoo is connected to each of our animals? It is true! Actions we all take each day affect the lives of animals all over the world. The Oakland Zoo is the perfect place to make that connection.

We invite you to read our Connection Messages. These messages include information about the threats animals face in both the wild and captivity, and what the Oakland Zoo’s Conservation Fund is doing to help. Most importantly, these messages help visitors understand their own connection to each species, and what they can do to help as individuals.

The Oakland Zoo Docents are incorporating these vital messages all over the Zoo; on tours, at stations and during presentations. Look for a docent if you have any questions about the animals and how to help the survival of their species.

The messages here will change here every few months, so please keep checking back.

This is a docent-inspired project. The messages were researched and written by docents in collaboration with Oakland Zoo staff.

The Oakland Zoo is actively involved in saving Western Pond Turtles. On Monday, August 10, the Oakland Zoo and Sonoma State University researchers released 22 Western Pond Turtles back into the wild. Click here to see photos and learn more.  

How does an elephant know to avoid a hungry lion pride to the west from miles and miles away? They have friends who call them via 411, dialing direct to their feet. The elephants at the Oakland Zoo are taking part in the research on this extraordinary communication technique right on zoo grounds.

In November 2008, the Oakland Zoo was honored to host the ChimpanZoo Conference, a sponsored program of the Jane Goodall Institute. Holding this event at Oakland Zoo is significant because twenty years ago, dedicated Oakland Zoo docents and education staff members joined Dr. Jane Goodall, keepers and scientists from nearly a dozen states in an endeavor to improve the lives of captive chimpanzees through research, education, and enrichment. The relationship created a bond that has lasted more than two decades.