Little Turtle AAZK

Throughout 2024, ZDR3 Network teams responded to hurricanes, wildfires, and other natural and man-made disasters. It was a challenging year for our small staff, who were activated for responses for weeks at a time. The American Association of Zoo Keepers (AAZK) reached out to us and asked what they could do to help. We suggested they encourage chapters to support facilities across the zoological industry that were impacted by disasters; and to support ZDR3.

Disaster response is costly, and donors help support our work. Last fall, when our staff was managing multiple responses, we were uplifted when we suddenly received donations from AAZK Chapters throughout the country! AAZK President Nicole Pepo told us that after an email was sent to Chapter Leaders that explained how to donate to ZDR3, “The response from our Chapters was immediate and full of such compassion.”

The AAZK Chapters that donated to ZDR3 are Baton Rouge, Battle Creek, Cape May County Zoo AAZK Chapter, Dallas AAZK Chapter, Detroit, Indianapolis, Little Turtle AAZK, Memphis AAZK, Mesker Park Zoo AAZK, and Puget Sound Chapter of AAZK. This show of support was so inspiring we reached out to learn more about what moved these chapters to support ZDR3.

That led to an article in the AAZK magazine, Animal Keepers’ Forum. A link to the article is in comments.

Get your trash out of nature! From toys to canned pears, to leather items to bike tires, we found A LOT of items in our greenway cleanup tonight 😢 so glad that we were able to get this out of the environment, but remember to dispose of your trash and recyclables responsibly!

River greenway cleanups will continue in the spring!