Coins for Conservation
Home   //   Conservation   //   Coins for Conservation

Help save animals just by coming to the Zoo!

Did you know that $0.25 of every admission goes to conservation projects around the world? By purchasing a zoo ticket, you are helping us help animals. When you purchase a ticket to the Zoo, you'll receive a token to choose which Coins for Conservation project you would like your money to support. You could double the impact by donating an additional quarter of your own!

If you have more questions about any of our Coins for Conservation projects, give us a call at the Zoo 309-799-3482 ext 222 or click to email
our team.

Snow Leopard Trust

  • Global population is estimated between 2,500 – 10,000 mature individuals.
  • While poaching appears to have declined since the late 1990s, it is estimated that 221-450 snow leopards are poached annually since 2008.
  • The Snow Leopard Trust educates local people on how to live with and help snow leopards.
  • The Trust also studies and tracks snow leopards to learn more about them.
  • Because of your visit to the Zoo and generous donations, we have donated over $13,000 to the Snow Leopard Trust!

Learn more

Mind the Monarchs!

Every third bite of food we put into our mouth is thanks to pollinators like monarch butterflies and bees. Monarch butterfly populations are having problems because of the disappearance of the plants, like milkweed, that they need here in the Midwest as well as their migration spots in Mexico. Monarch Watch helps by showing you how to grow your own pollinator garden as well as providing milkweed, tagging monarchs, and so much more!

Niabi Zoo has dedicated 20 acres of property to growing pollinator friendly native plants.

Learn more

Niabi Zoo Freshwater Fish Initiative

Freshwater ecosystems are the most endangered on earth. More so than coral reefs and rainforest. The lakes, rivers, swamps, and streams of the world make up only 0.01 percent of the planet’s water, but is home to over 40% of the more than 30,000 described species of fish. These areas are under tremendous threat because of drainage for agriculture, (especially palm oil) destruction for fuel, (the areas are drained and the peat harvested for burning in homes) and from logging, both legal and illegal.

Niabi Zoo is engaged in the breeding of a critically endangered freshwater fish, the Krabi mouth brooding betta (Betta simplex) is endemic to the Krabi province in southern Thailand. It is not just large charismatic animals that need our help. While assisting a global species in need, we are also drawing attention to local freshwater species in need.

Niabi Zoo Bat Initiative

Bats play an important role as pollinators and in regulating insect populations. All 13 species of bats in Illinois are insectivorous meaning they eat lots of insects such as mosquitos. Of those 13 species, four are endangered and two are threatened. Bats are at risk due to habitat destruction by humans as well as white-nose syndrome, a fungus that causes bats to die during hibernation. Due to the low reproduction rates of bats (having only one or two pups per year), it takes a very long time for declining populations to recover. In order to protect bats and where they live, we need to know where they are.

Niabi Zoo collaborates with the University of Dubuque to track bats on the Zoo’s 287 acres to gain a better understanding of their population numbers, health and distribution.

Know of a bat roost? Report it using the Illinois Bat Conservation Program Roost Form.

Click to report

X