March 19, 2024

Buttonwood Park Zoo's Visitor Donation Program Saves Endangered Species Around the World

The Zoo and its guests contribute internationally to save endangered species.

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New Bedford, Massachusetts: The Buttonwood Park Zoo and its guests are making a direct impact on endangered species in the wild. Started in May 2015, the Zoo’s Coins for Conservation program raises funds for local and global conservation projects by asking Zoo guests to donate $1 at admissions. Guests choose among three conservation projects to support; the funds are distributed to various projects throughout the year and projects rotate during the year. To date, over $50,000 has been raised for various organizations and conservation programs all over the world. In the final months of 2018, these funds have supported three international initiatives designed to help critically endangered species in the wild.

Coins for Conservation funds supported the following initiatives:
Proyecto Titi's 2018 Titi Post Campaign: www.proyectotiti.com/en-us/
Proyecto Titi's 2018 Titi Post Campaign’s goal is to protect forests in Colombia that are home to cotton-top tamarins by purchasing recycled plastic posts, called Proyecto Posts. More than 95% of the cotton-top tamarin’s habitat has been lost due to urban and agricultural expansion, and what forest remains is at risk as people continue to cut down trees each year. The Buttonwood Park Zoo donated $1,500 to purchase 100 posts and “Save a Forest.” The Zoo’s contribution reduced the need to harvest trees from Colombia’s forests and recycled plastic litter to build fences.

Buttonwood Park Zoo introduced cotton-top tamarins, a critically endangered, small monkey found in the tropical forests of northern Colombia, in 2017 when Rainforests, Rivers & Reefs sponsored by Stoico/FIRSTFED opened. Glen and Adelina, the Zoo's breeding pair of cotton-top tamarins serve as ambassadors for their species; through interpretive signage we seek to educate guests on this species’ plight in the wild and inspire guests to take action. The Buttonwood Park Zoo collaborates with the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) Cotton-top Tamarin Species Survival Plan to cooperatively manage their population within AZA accredited zoos to ensure the sustainability of a healthy and genetically diverse population while helping to conserve this species in the wild.  Prior to this donation, the Buttonwood Park Zoo had supported Proyecto Titi’s efforts through additional donations totaling $4,000.

Save the Golden Lion Tamarin - Grow Trees for GLT's:
savetheliontamarin.org/replant-glt-habitat/
Save the Golden Lion Tamarin (SGLT) provides technical and financial support to help the Brazilian Associação Mico-Leão Dourado (AMLD, the Golden Lion Tamarin Association) as they work to save GLTs in their Atlantic coastal forests in perpetuity. Besides monitoring GLTs in the forest, AMLD is working with local communities to protect and reconnect forest fragments by growing forest corridors between the fragmented forest patches that tamarins and other wildlife can cross. This increases the area of habitat and also helps deter inbreeding of isolated groups. The Buttonwood Park Zoo, through its Coins for Conservation program, donated $750 to plant fifty native seedlings in Rio de Janeiro State, to expand critical habitat and create a lasting impact on the health of our planet by supporting efforts to improve air quality to moderate climate change. The Zoo has contributed a total of $1,750 in support of SGLT’s efforts.

Elephant Care International (ECI): elephantcare.org/
Elephant Care International is dedicated to the health, welfare, and conservation of elephants and the sharing of information among elephant professionals. In September, ECI hosted a workshop in Myanmar for elephant veterinarians, veterinary technicians, and elephant rescue facility managers from Asian elephant range countries including Sri Lanka, India, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Nepal, and Indonesia. Twenty-one elephant care professionals took part in the week-long workshop, ElephantCARE ASIA Workshop; the Buttonwood Park Zoo provided scholarship support in the amount of $2,000 for Purushotam Pandey of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, Nepal, to attend.

The Zoo has contributed a total of $7,000 in support of ECI’s efforts.
Read about the various projects Buttonwood Park Zoo is engaged in and supported since the Coins for Conservation program began at bpzoo.org/conservation/our-projectsprograms/.

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