The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of zoos and aquariums in conservation, animal welfare, education, science, and recreation, recently announced the recipients of their Conservation Grants Fund. 13 different individuals and groups were selected from a pool of 70 applicants and received a portion of the grant for their conservation-based projects. The money awarded by AZA totaled over $275,000.

The Conservation Grants Fund was established in 1984 by AZA to support the "cooperative conservation-related scientific and educational initiatives" of industry professionals and association members. The AZA identified the specific areas of conservation in which they are improving through this funding program. Those areas are research, field conservation, education and outreach, animal welfare, animal health, and animal management.

In the announcement, AZA president and CEO Dan Ashe commented, "Investment in conservation will likely decline in 2021, so I am grateful we have supporters such as the Disney Conservation Fund to help assure we can continue to support critical field conservation projects. There is no doubt AZA members remain focused on making this a better world for people and wildlife."

Recipients of the grants are as follows:
Andean Highland Flamingos Conservation Monitoring Program
Daniel Hilliard, PhD, Zoo Conservation Outreach Group
Guillermo Cubillos Torres, Zool????gico Nacional de Chile

Characterization of Sand Tiger Shark Enclosure Use and Behavior to Understand Wellbeing and Reproduction
Lara Metrione, PhD and Nancy Ho, South-East Zoo Alliance for Reproduction & Conservation (SEZARC)
Carol Price, PhD, North Carolina Aquariums

Expanding the Coexistence Co-op: Mitigating Human-Wildlife Conflict to Protect Vultures and Lions

 
Darcy Ogada, PhD, The Peregrine Fund
Alayne Cotterill, PhD, Lion Landscapes

Identifying Conservation Priorities for the Critically Endangered Large-Antlered Muntjac, Muntiacus vuquangensis, in One of its Last Strongholds
Michelle Hatwood, Audubon Nature Institute's Freeport McMoRan Audubon Species Survival Center

Ngogo Chimpanzee Project Snare Removal Program
Kevin Langergraber, PhD, Arizona State University
John Mitani, PhD and Samuel Angedakin, Ngogo Chimpanzee Project, Inc.

Proudly Serving Biodiversity: Unifying the AZA to Demand Bird Friendly Coffee
Justine Bowe and Ruth Bennett, PhD, Smithsonian's National Zoological Park

Reintroducing the Madagascar Pochard to Establish a Self-Sustaining Population on a Community-Managed Lake
Leslie Wilmet, PhD, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust

Spatial Requirements for Conservation Management of Imperiled Queen Conch Using No-Take Reserves
Andrew Sebastian Kough, PhD, John G. Shedd Aquarium

Spreading Our Range: Expanding Vulture Conservation Efforts from Tanzania to Zambia
Corinne Kendall, PhD, North Carolina Zoo

Sulu Hornbill Conservation Project
Roger Sweeney, North Carolina Zoo

Understanding and Improving Disease Outcomes during Reintroductions of an Endangered California Amphibian
Talisin Hammond, PhD, Debra Shier, PhD, and Candace Williams, PhD, Zoological Society of San Diego

Use of Un-Baited Camera Trapping to Assess Threats, Survival and Recruitment to Restored Grand Cayman Blue Iguana Population in the Salina Reserve
Frederic Burton, Cayman Islands Department of Environment
Christine Proctor, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology

Emergency Action to Reduce the Impact of Yellow Fever on Golden Lion Tamarins in Brazil's Atlantic Forest
Jennifer Mickelberg, PhD, Zoo Atlanta

To read more about the Conservation Grants Fund click here:
https://www.aza.org/aza-news-releases/posts/aza-selects-13-projects-to-receive-conservation-grant-funding