Saving Species Tall and Small
The Cincinnati Zoo is home to 90 endangered species & is involved in more than 30 different field conservation projects around the world. From animals as small as the endangered American burying beetle, to as tall as an oak tree, we are committed to saving species!
Our scientists at The Lindner Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife’s (CREW) are working to conserve valuable oak trees! So far this spring, our Plant Research Division has received cuttings of various endangered oak species from over a dozen institutions across the country to study the process of initiating those cuttings into tissue culture. After being established in culture, those species can be propagated and stored long-term in liquid nitrogen.
One day in the future, if a species is wiped out by disease or a changing climate, that material can be brought out of storage and used to restore wild populations, saving not just the oaks but the many different species that rely on them to survive.