Preserving Wildlife for Tomorrow
Innovation remained a guiding force as Audubon Nature Institute sought to grow its commitment to wildlife conservation—on a global scale. With successful breeding programs already in place at the Zoo and the Aquarium, Audubon addressed the critical need for additional population management space with the 1993 opening of Freeport-McMoRan Audubon Species Survival Center.
Unique in the world, the campus combines research laboratories with acres of pristine natural habitat where rare and endangered animals can roam and reproduce. Exotic wildcats, Mississippi sandhill cranes, whooping cranes, saddlebill storks and other vanishing animals find sanctuary and flourish on these grounds, while scientists on-site at Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species wield assisted reproduction technologies in the war against wildlife extinction.
Employing vital partnerships with universities, government agencies and other conservation-dedicated organizations, the Research Center team continues to earn international renown through amazing achievements. These include the world’s first African wildcat clones; the first caracal cat created from a frozen-thawed embryo; the first African serval wildcat born as a result of in vitro fertilization; and a “Frozen Zoo,” which preserves the genetic material of hundreds of diminishing animal species—ensuring their survival in the future.