Turtle Back Zoo
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 Turtle Back Zoo and the Zoological Society of New Jersey decided to focus on monarch butterflies and helped to support AZA’s Monarch SAFE and Monarch Joint Venture in their mission to protect pollinators. Monarch Joint Venture is helping to increase the monarch butterfly population by working with local organizations to plant milkweed in locations all across the nation. Milkweed is a plant on which monarch butterflies lay their eggs, and where those eggs are able to thrive and safely hatch. During 2024, for every Zoological Society of New Jersey membership sold, a portion of the proceeds went towards Monarch Joint Venture to create pollinator gardens. Those who bought a membership received a Pollinator Pop, consisting of seeds implanted in soil and formed into the shape of a lollipop, which members could bring home and use to plant pollinator plants in their own backyards! In Spring of 2025, nearly 2,000 native plants were distributed, and eight pollinator gardens were established at partner zoos across the country. (Utah’s Hogle Zoo, Abilene Zoo, Mesker Park Zoo, North Carolina Aquarium at Roanoke Island, Virginia Zoo, Brandywine Zoo, Elmwood Park Zoo, and Roger Williams Park Zoo).
In 2025 the initiative elected to support another animal in need, the African penguin. Essex County Turtle Back Zoo and the Zoological Society of New Jersey partnered with AZA’s African Penguin SAFE and the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) in their mission to protect African penguins. SANCCOB is an organization focused on protecting coastal seabirds, and their flagship species is the African Penguin. Their organization works within Africa to protect these animals and their environments, while working with local communities and educating the public and governments on conserving these species. For every membership sold in 2025, a portion of the proceeds was donated to SANCCOB and each member received a keychain made from recycled tires and a SeaFood Watch card. Through this initiative we were able to provide support to SANCCOB’s wildlife rehabilitation center in Namibia, where they rescue injured African penguins and rehabilitate them for release, as well as provide long-term care for birds unfit to be released.
This year, the Zoological Society of New Jersey will continue the program and select a new conservation effort to support with a portion of the proceeds from memberships. Comment on our Facebook what animal you think will be chosen for the initiative this year and let us know what you think!