National Zookeeper Week
by Stormy on July 17, 2010
A proclamation by the American Association of Zoo Keepers.
As the need to protect and preserve our wildlife and vanishing habitats has increased, our role as educators and wildlife ambassadors has become essential. During the third week of July each year, celebrate National Zoo Keeper Week; both you and your animals deserve the recognition.
WHEREAS, worldwide, animal populations are declining at an alarming rate with many facing extinction; and
WHEREAS, zoological institutions have become the final hope for many endangered species recovery programs through conservation research, release programs, and by being a portal through which the general public can view and appreciate disappearing wildlife; and
WHEREAS, zoological institutions are also population managers of keystone and cornerstone species, emphasizing the restoration of not just the endangered species, but a restoration of the delicate balance of nature; and
WHEREAS, zoo keepers are the frontline soldiers for conservation, participating in the battle for species survival and preservation of the natural homelands of the animals they care for through public awareness, education, and exhibition; and
WHEREAS, zoo keepers have become animal caretakers devoting their lives to caring for these animals; and
WHEREAS, zoo keepers have become the spokespersons for vanishing wildlife, carrying the conservation message of habitat loss, endangered species, and preservation of nature's threatened wildlands to the public; and
WHEREAS, zoo keepers have become animal specialists, as educators, choreographers of animal behaviors through enrichment, behavior managers through operant conditioning, and reproductive specialists through improved observations and husbandry; and
WHEREAS, to help increase public awareness about the need to preserve our precious habitats and the animals which inhabit them and to recognize the roles that zookeepers play in animal conservation and education, The American Association of Zoo Keepers invites all AAZK chapters to participate in National Zoo Keeper Week.
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