Species choice

The mix of species at Jersey Zoo is a necessary balance between those present for direct conservation purposes and those for inspiring and educating the public. An updated vision for the zoo and collection plan, developed collaboratively with our staff, will form part of Durrell’s new strategy.

How many species at Jersey Zoo are endangered?

50% of the species at Jersey Zoo are classified as Globally Threatened on the IUCN red list (updated figures from our Conservation Knowledge team as of April 2024). This is a very high percentage of threatened species for a zoo collection, compared with any we have been able to compare ourselves with. However, the threatened status of a species, in isolation, is not a good metric for conservation impact within zoos. For species in zoos to have conservation impact, they should fulfil at least one of the following categories:

• Being part of an active conservation project, such as breeding for reintroduction

• Contribute to the knowledge of that or a similar species

• Be used to help train other conservationists to learn more about a species and its needs, such as the trialling of tamarin nestboxes in Jersey Zoo’s free-ranging tamarin woods to determine the best nestbox design for wild tamarins in Brazil

• Inspire the public to choose more pro-environmental behaviours through nature connection Not all these categories require the species to be globally threatened with extinction.