Wild Animal Park curator of birds Bill Toone, who was also the curator in charge of obtaining butterflies for the Park's annual spring butterfly event, talks with a staff member at one of the butterfly farms the Park worked with in Costa Rica. When the Park supports these local butterfly farms, the farmers are able to make a living to support their families and communities, yet protect the forests and native habitat where they live—the butterflies need the unspoiled habitat in order to reproduce.

Staff members from the Zoological Society of San Diego worked with staff from the Australian Koala Foundation in Australia to map koala habitat, in order to determine where koalas were living, how they were using their habitat, and how much area they needed to obtain enough food, find shelter, and access mates for breeding. Deforestation was—and still is—a major threat to koalas, and the information gathered would be used to provide feasible recommendations for conservation solutions.

After studying the threats facing endangered iguana species like this Cuban rock iguana, researchers found that one of the best techniques to help them increase their populations was

1995

Expansion 1987 - 1996

Into the Field: Conservation work in 1995 included working with butterfly farms in Costa Rica (above), helping to map koala habitat in Australia (right, top), and raising Cuban rock iguanas in managed care, then releasing them back to their native habitat (right).

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