The Fort Worth Zoo is working with endangered species through the American Zoo and Aquarium Association's Species Survival Plans.

The zoo spearheads the international conservation effort to save the Jamaican Iguana, the most endangered lizard in the world. In 2000 the Fort Worth Zoo won the International Conservation Award for the Jamaican Iguana conservation program. For nearly 50 years the Jamaican Iguana was believed to be extinct. Today the project is widely recognized as one of the premier conservation success stories and has emerged as a model program, according to Rick Hudson, conservation biologist at the zoo. The Jamaican Iguana belongs to a group of West Indian lizards known as rock Iguanas, large plant-eating specialists resembling ancient dinosaurs. (Source: Fort Worth Zoo).

Animal Collection totals at the zoo include more than 350 species and the zoo is the only one in the nation to house representatives of all four Great Ape species - gorillas, orangutans, bonobos, and chimpanzees. The Fort Worth Zoo, which houses 65 mammals, is the only Texas zoo and one of six zoos in the nation to house bonobos (pygmy chimps) and one of five locations in the world to display three of the five rhino species in captivity: black, white, and one-horned Asian rhinos.

In the spring of 2005 the Fort Worth Zoo opened their new Great Barrier Reef exhibit, renovating Australian Outback to include the aquatic exhibit which enables visitors to go to the depths of the Coral Sea. The exhibit includes three saltwater tanks containing more than 10,000 gallons of water and full of 500 vibrant fish, coral, and sharks. The Outback, also housing red kangaroos and wallabies, was formerly named Koala Outback. Visitors can see a diverse collection of Australian aquatic wildlife spanning 86 species (45 fish species, three small-to-medium-size ones, 30 coral, and eight invertebrate creatures).

"Most people will not have the opportunity to travel to Australia and see all the fascinating sea life in the Great Barrier Reef," said Michael Fouraker, zoo director.

The Great Barrier Reef and the Corral Reef Area were made possible by donations from Baylor All Saints Medical Center, the Discovery Foundation, and the T.J. Brown and C.A. Lupton Foundation, Inc. In the wild, the Great Barrier Reef stretches for more than 1,200 miles around the northeast coast of Australia.

The zoo is also one of four zoos with a currently active Asian elephant breeding program, according to a Fort Worth Zoo Animal Collection Facts sheet published by the zoo.

From meager beginnings the Fort Worth Zoo has grown into a nationally ranked family attraction, celebrating 96 years.

With 127 birds, the Fort Worth Zoo was the recipient of the 1989 AVY award from the American Federation of Agriculture for the successful management of roseate spoonbills and hatching more of this species than any other zoo, according to Lyndsay Nantz, the communication director of the Fort Worth Zoo. The facility also received a 1989 AVY award for establishing a black-necked swan population in captivity through breeding and managing the swans to third generation. The Fort Worth Zoo is one of four zoos in the nation to house the endangered harpy eagle and to display and breed Malay crestless fireback pheasants, said Tracy Sturrock of the Fort Worth Zoo.

The oldest continuous zoo site in Texas, the zoo was founded in 1909 with one lion, two bear cubs, an alligator, coyote, peacock, and a few rabbits. From 1909 to Oct. 1991 the Fort Worth Zoo was owned and operated by the City of Fort Worth. The facility is still owned by the City, but managed by a private association.

The zoo is the only Texas one and one or two in the nation to display magellanic flightless steamer ducks.

With 171 reptiles, the Fort Worth Zoo has one of the largest collections in the U.S. and won the coveted Bean Award in 1988 for arboreal boid propagation. The zoo has a unique, large reptile complex exhibiting endangered Komodo dragons and gharial crocodiles and has reproduced over 180 species or sub-species or reptiles and/or amphibians since 1971 - more than 30 represent first captive breedings in North America.

The zoo features 15 permanent exhibits including the African Savannah where you can see reticulated giraffes, black and white rhinos, across a stream in a natural, shaded habitat, the Asian Falls featuring bears and endangered Asian tigers nestled among a dramatic hillside setting, Asian Rhino Ridge where rare greater one-horned Asian rhinos romp and cool off under waterfalls in their natural yards, Chee-Tos Cheetahs, featuring warthogs, cheetahs, and bongos, and Flamingo Bay with more than 70 flamingos representing three species, among others.

Other exhibits include Meerkat Mounds, Parrot Paradise, Raptor Canyon, Thundering Plains, World of Primates, and Texas Wild!

For more information visit www.fortworthzoo.org or call 817-759-7555.