We work to inspire every guest who walks through our gates or attends an outreach event through encounters with wildlife and education about conservation.
Each guest has the potential to become a conservationist who takes action to help save wildlife and wild places. The more people who commit to making our world a better place through action, the more opportunity we have to truly make a difference for species survival and to leave this world a better place for our children and grandchildren. Your support is what makes this possible.
The Zoo Society is committed to fostering an appreciation for nature and the importance of conservation amongpeople of all ages with our programs at the Zoo and throughout our community and region.
Your investment in the Seneca Park Zoo Society is an investment in the future.Your donation is crucial to our ability to provide quality education and conservation programs, recruit and train hundreds of volunteers annually, encourage guests to live more sustainably and provide meaningful guest experiences.
Will you consider making a gift today to our spring appeal?
Thank you for your support of Seneca Park Zoo Society
John is a young philanthropist in the Rochester community.
At only 3 years old, John is learning the importance of giving to the community. Early this fall, John came to the Zoo to make a donation of $.75 (his entire allowance for the month) to the elephants, his favorite animal.
While $.75 may not seem like much, it meant the world to us, and it meant a lot to John. His parents are looking to build strong values in John by having him conduct acts of volunteerism throughout the community each month. John chose the Zoo because he loves the elephants here, and he loves the Zoo.
John and his family are members who visit often. When John was even younger, they used the Zoo to help build his vocabulary. They have attended many Book & Beast programs and are looking forward to being able to participate in more Education programs now that John is older. Their favorite time to visit the Zoo is in the winter, rather than the summer, since the animals are out more and they can speak to the Zoo Keepers more readily.
Mya Santiago, ZooTeen Leader, East Irondequoit High School, class of 2018
I have come to the Seneca Park Zoo since before I could walk. I was raised by a single mom, so my grandma and grandpa helped raise me, and they brought me to the Zoo just about every day. They instilled a lot of my values in me.
My grandpa always taught me that things I want in life can happen if you work for them. So when my mom told me about the ZooTeen program, I knew I wanted to apply. Now I’ve been doing it for three years. I love educating people, and if they just learn one little thing about our animals and their conservation, I feel great.
Being a ZooTeen has helped me grow as a person, giving me an ability to talk to many different types of people. I’ve even had some ZooCampers who have come back and apply for the ZooTeen program because of things they learned from ME! That makes me feel great.
After high school? I really hope to get into Cornell for their Veterinary Program. I want to be a wildlife veterinarian.
“Being a ZooTeen has helped me grow as a person.”
Programs like ZooTeens, ZooCamps, and the ZooMobile create opportunities for young people in our community to not only learn about animals and conservation, but to learn about themselves.
I used to think of zoos as cages with animals, and it made me sad. But now I know Seneca Park Zoo is actually on a mission to conserve animals and wild life for our future generations. That you’re connected to other accredited zoos to preserve the future of these animals.
There’s a care and concern for the animals, and there’s a care and concern for people understanding what our world looks like, and that when you support the Zoo, you’re actually supporting life to continue forward in and around the world. Seneca Park Zoo may have a small footprint but it has a global impact.
I now see the Zoo as something a bit different – an entity that cares and wants to preserve, but also wants the community to know about these things. You are focused on the community and what it needs for generations to come. This small Zoo is not just about families, but about the world family, which I think is important in supporting life globally. Seneca Park Zoo may have a small footprint but it has a global impact.
Shawn and his family are just one example of people in our community who thought the Zoo wasn’t for them. There are few things more satisfying than seeing the “Aha!” moment when a zoo naysayer understands the full impact of our efforts.
And Shawn’s reference to our global impact isn’t hyperbole. The Seneca Park Zoo Society recently won an Environmental Leadership Award for its biodiversity assessment, “One Cubic Foot,” in the Genesee River, a project highlighted in a six-page story in Connect, the national journal of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. In June, we replicated the project in Madagascar, with National Geographic photographer David Liittschwager and scientists from the Smithsonian Institution.
At the Zoo, our successful breeding programs with orangutans, lions, and African penguins, are helping to build genetically sustainable populations of endangered species. In fact, we just celebrated our 100th successful hatching of an African black-footed penguin, cementing your beloved penguins’ reputation as one of the most significant breeding colonies in North America.
“My Zoo is one of the few places you can invest in the community, while also impacting the world.”
Barbara Kelley, Seneca Park Zoo Society Trustee and supporter since 2005
Like many people, I visited the Zoo with my children and grandchildren, but then thought I had “aged out” as they grew up. I got reintroduced to the Zoo about twelve years ago, when I was in a corporate role at Bausch + Lomb. Zoo leaders came to pitch us on investing in a capital campaign, and I was really intrigued with their vision. We knew from research that Seneca Park Zoo was one of the most important community organizations to our employees – from line workers to executives – so we got involved in the campaign.
Since then, my involvement with the Zoo has grown extensively.
I serve on the Board of Trustees because I believe in the deliberate emphasis the Zoo has in education and conservation. My great-grandchildren have attended ZooCamp for several years, and my eleven-year-old great-grandson always amazes us with animal facts he’s learned from camp.
I know that my energies and investment in the Zoo not only impact our community, but they impact the world. And not just for a year or two, but they have a truly lasting effect.Most people who haven’t been here in years are amazed at how the Zoo is more relevant than ever.DONATE NOW
