February 2026

Our Membership in Action conservation focus for 2026 is the lemur. Read on to learn about lemurs!   Kingdom:  Animalia Phylum:  Chordata Subphylum:  Vertebrata Class:  Aves Order:  Sphenisciformes Family:  Spheniscidae Genus:  Spheniscus Species:  S. demersus   Lemurs (Suborder Strepsirrhini) are primates that are found only on the island of Madagascar and the nearby Comoro Islands. […]

In 2024, Essex County Turtle Back Zoo and the Zoological Society of New Jersey created an initiative to bring membership dollars into conservation. Each year, a portion of membership sales is awarded to a conservation organization to help that organization with its conservation efforts in the wild.   In the program’s first year, Essex County