CITY NATURE CHALLENGE 2022 RESULTS ARE IN!
Accept the Challenge
Workshops are for groups or families and are available by reservation three weeks in advance. Minimum participants in a reserved workshop is 5 people with minimum age of 6 years old. Cost is $16/person unless reserved with another education program then adults are free. Cost includes supplies and equipment use. Workshops run 2 hours in length and can be reserved any day of the week.
Contact the Education Department at (402) 738-2092 or Educate@OmahaZoo.com to inquire about topic availability and reserving your spot today.
Available Topics Include
Amphibian Conservation
Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, together with other zoos and organizations, has launched the Amphibian Conservation Initiative to address the decline of amphibians on a global scale. This initiative includes the establishment of facilities and the training of staff, capable of quarantining amphibians and carrying out captive breeding programs. Once threats have been lowered or resolved, offspring of the amphibians will be released back into the wild.
Salamander Conservation
Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium and Wildlife Safari Park needs your help! We are on the lookout for tiger salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum), a species that was last spotted in this area almost 10 years ago.We are looking to you for help in collecting data to see if they are still in eastern Nebraska.
Butterfly Conservation
Approximately 3 percent of butterfly species are threatened with extinction. This decline in butterfly populations is attributed primarily to habitat loss due to urbanization and agriculture. As populations continue to decrease, a growing need to more closely monitor species is developing. Because there is little distinction between some types of butterflies, identification and classification proves to be a challenge. Very few Lepidopterists (scientists who study butterflies and moths) exist; therefore monitoring population sizes and ranges of butterfly species is a daunting task.
SECORE Conservation
Coral reefs are declining worldwide due to global warming, ocean acidification, sedimentation, eutrification, African dust storms and mechanical damage, just to name a few. Caribbean scleractinian corals have declined as much as 90% in many locations. The Caribbean Elkhorn Coral, Acropora palmata and the Caribbean Staghorn Coral, Acropora cervicornis, are the two major reef building corals in the Caribbean. Both of these species are on the IUCN Red list of Endangered Species and both are listed as critically endangered. There is a reproductive bottleneck that is making it increasingly difficult for these corals to reproduce sexually in the wild.
Resources for Workshop Topics