Effective species conservation is of crucial importance because human activities have had a profound impact on the natural world. Animal species around the globe are increasingly affected by changes in climate and habitat loss The Mt. Graham red squirrel, a small North American red squirrel sub species that exists only in the Penaleno Mountains of Southern Arizona, is critically endangered with an estimated population of ~100 individuals.

As urban populations expand into wildland interface, negative interactions between people and wildlife, particularly medium-to-large mammals like coyotes, become a growing concern. Wildlife offer important benefits to humans and their environment and add intrinsic value to residential communities, but may come into conflict with residents over space and resources. Our project aims to address these concerns by identifying effective solutions that minimize human-wildlife conflict and nurture a mutually beneficial relationship between residents and wildlife.

One of Japan's leading wildlife conservation programs has joined with us through a formal international memorandum of agreement. We look forward to extending this agreement to develop additional collaborative efforts and student/faculty exchanges.

Phoenix Zoo partners with researchers like us to improve their captive breeding program and increase the chances of survival when threatened and endangered species, like the narrow-headed garter snake and the Mt. Graham red squirrel, are released back into the wild. They provide funding for our researchers to monitor animals post-release and better understand the conditions needed for survival and reproduction.

The World Wildlife Fund provides funding for students across the globe to train in wildlife conservation and research. With help from WWF, we have recruited Nepalese researchers studying the Ganges river dolphin and red pandas in Nepal.

We continue to develop our partnership with this southern Japanese university with opportunities for researcher exchanges and collaborative projects on mammalian ecology and conservation.

We partner with Balule Nature Reserve to conduct studies on plant-herbivore relationships in Africa’s savanna. We have established research sites on the reserve where we monitor the health of vulnerable marula trees, record seedling presence, and assess the wildlife community to identify factors responsible for marula decline. By looking more closely at the life cycle of a marula tree, we hope to understand whether the elephant, the traditional scapegoat for marula decline, or different species is truly to blame.

AZ Game & Fish provides valuable funding for our researchers to conduct conservation projects through the Arizona Heritage Grant. We work together to develop the most applicable studies needed to make the greatest conservation impact. This source has provided funding for research on the endangered Mt. Graham red squirrel, endangered Sonoran tiger salamanders, and elusive grey foxes.

As part of their commitment toward conservation, Reid Park Zoo provides funding to conservation research projects that study threatened and endangered species. What we learn about the species in the field is taken back to the zoo to improve care for the animals living there. Reid Park Zoo is currently supporting our efforts to understand the ecology of Andean bears, an elusive species living in the cloud forests and Páramos of Colombia.