International Elephant Foundation - Asian and African Elephant Conservation

Several factors were involved when the idea arose. One, Birmingham has an incredibly high runner population, and secondly, that along with the zoo’s new expansion plans, the elephant was designated to be the zoo’s new flagship species.

It seemed a perfect time to start a new elephant conservation initiative, with AZA announcing its support of the International Elephant Foundation (IEF) and many zoos evaluating their current elephant programs, our AAZK Chapter was up to the challenge. A challenge it was too, for we took on a task that turned out much larger than originally speculated.

In total, the Birmingham Zoo Chapter of AAZK, with the help of many friends, raised a little over $10,000. The exciting part for the Chapter was choosing where the money would be sent. After several meetings, presentations and discussions, the money was split four ways. Some was put away for the 2007 race, some was sent to the 2006 Elephant Managers Association Conference and some to the International Conservation and Research Symposium. The majority of the funds, over $7,500 were sent to the AZA and IEF supported project- "Developing Conservation Response Units in Sumatra."

Download the Entire Article
Back to News Listing

Elephant Stampede: Running for Conservation

Initiative, dedication, energy and, of course, money are just some factors needed to pull off an exceptional zoo event. Of course, starting with an exceptional idea is helpful too. The Birmingham Zoo’s Chapter of AAZK had one of those ideas in 2005, to host the “First Annual Zoo Run” at the Birmingham Zoo. We know that its not an original idea, other zoos have been doing runs for years, but with a Chapter membership of only 10 members, it was an ambitious idea for us.