The American Species Survival Plan or SSP program was developed in 1981 by the (American) Association of Zoos and Aquariums to help ensure the survival of selected species in

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to z ...

s and aquariums, most of which are threatened or endangered in the wild.

SSP program

SSP programs focus on animals that are near threatened, threatened, endangered, or otherwise in danger of

extinction Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the Endling, last individual of the species, although the Functional ext ...

in the wild, when zoo and zoology conservationists believe captive breeding programs will aid in their chances of survival."Species Survival Plans help preserve wildlife"
on the Central Florida Zoo website. These programs help maintain healthy and genetically diverse animal populations within the Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited

community. AZA accredited zoos and AZA conservation partners that are involved in SSP programs engage in cooperative population management and conservation efforts that include research, conservation genetics, public education, reintroduction, and ''in situ'' or field conservation projects. There are currently 172 species covered by 116 SSP programs throughout North America. The SSP has been met with widespread success in ensuring that, should a species population become functionally extinct in its natural habitat, a viable population still exists within a zoological setting. This has also led to AZA species reintroduction programs, examples of which include the black-footed ferret, the California condor, the northern riffleshell, the golden lion tamarin, the Karner blue butterfly, the Oregon spotted frog, the palila finch, the red wolf, and the Wyoming toad.

SSP master plan

An SSP master plan is a document produced by the SSP coordinator (generally a zoo professional under the guidance of an elected management committee) for a certain species. This document sets ''ex situ'' population goals and other management recommendations to achieve the maximum genetic diversity and demographic stability for a species, given transfer and space constraints.

List of SSP programs

There are currently 478 species and subspecies that have an SSP program.While these are called Species Survival Plan programs, some animals on this list are subspecies. Other animal names on this list are not the commonly used name, however they are the official name of their respective SSP program. * Aardvark *

Addax The addax (''Addax nasomaculatus''), also known as the white antelope and the screwhorn antelope, is an antelope native to the Sahara Desert. The only member of the genus ''Addax'', it was first described scientifically by Henri de Blainvil ...

* Agouti, Brazilian * Alligator, Chinese * Anteater, giant * Antelope, roan * Antelope, sable * Aracari, curl-crested * Aracari, green * Argus, great * Armadillo, screaming * Armadillo, six-banded * Armadillo, southern three-banded * Ass, Somali wild *

Aye-aye The aye-aye (''Daubentonia madagascariensis'') is a long-fingered lemur, a strepsirrhine primate native to Madagascar with rodent-like teeth that perpetually grow and a special thin middle finger. It is the world's largest nocturnal primate. ...

* Baboon, Hamadryas * Barasingha * Barbet, bearded * Barbet, red-and-yellow * Bat, Egyptian fruit * Bat, Rodrigues fruit * Bat, straw-colored fruit * Bear, Andean spectacled * Bear, polar * Bear, sloth * Beaver, American * Beetle, American burying * Bettong, brush-tailed * Binturong *

Bird-of-paradise The birds-of-paradise are members of the family Paradisaeidae of the order Passeriformes. The majority of species are found in eastern Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and eastern Australia. The family has 44 species in 17 genera. The members of this ...

* Bird-of-paradise, superb * Bluebird, fairy * Boa, Jamaican * Bongo, eastern * Bonobo *

Bontebok The bontebok (''Damaliscus pygargus'') is an antelope found in South Africa, Lesotho and Namibia. ''D. pygargus'' has two subspecies; the nominate subspecies (''D. p. pygargus''), occurring naturally in the Fynbos and Renosterveld areas of ...

* Bulbul, collared finchbill * Bushbaby, Mohol * Bushmaster, South American * Cacique, yellow-rumped *

Callimico The Goeldi's marmoset or Goeldi's monkey (''Callimico goeldii'') is a small, South American New World monkey that lives in the upper Amazon basin region of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, and Peru. It is the only species classified in the genus '' ...

* Capuchin, brown * Capuchin, crested * Capuchin, white-throated * Capybara * Cardinal, red-capped * Cardinal, red-crested * Cassowary, Southern (double-wattled) * Cat, black-footed * Cat, fishing * Cat, Pallas * Cat, sand * Chat, snowy-crowned robin * Cheetah * Chevrotain, greater Malayan * Chicken, Attwater's prairie * Chimpanzee * Chuckwalla, San Esteban * Cichlid, Lake Victoria - Argens * Cichlid, Lake Victoria - Degeni * Cichlid, Lake Victoria - Esculentus *Cichlid, Lake Victoria - Lip, two-stripe white * Cichlid, Lake Victoria - Melanopterus * Cichlid, Lake Victoria - Perrieri * Cichlid, Lake Victoria - Piceatus * Coatimundi, white-nosed * Cobra, king * Cockatoo, palm * Colobus, Angolan * Colobus, guereza * Condor, Andean * Condor, California * Conure, golden * Coua, crested * Crane, black crowned * Crane, Demoiselle * Crane, grey crowned * Crane, red crowned * Crane, wattled * Crane, white-naped * Crane, whooping * Crocodile, Cuban * Crocodile, Orinoco * Crocodile, Siamese * Crocodile, slender-snouted * Curassow, blue-billed * Curassow, helmeted * Curassow, wattled * Cuttlefish, flamboyant * Deer, Eld's * Deer, Père David's * Deer, western tufted * Dikkop, spotted * Dog, African painted * Dove, beautiful fruit * Dove, black-naped fruit * Dove, grey-capped emerald * Dove, jambu fruit * Dove, luzon bleeding heart * Dove, Mariana fruit * Dove, Mindanao bleeding heart * Dove, pink-necked (Temminck's) fruit * Dove, white-throated ground * Dragon, Komodo * Duck, spotted whistling * Duck, West Indian whistling * Duck, white-winged wood * Duiker, blue * Duiker, red-flanked * Duiker, yellow-backed * Echidna, short-beaked * Eland, common * Elephant, African * Elephant, Asian * Falcon, African pygmy * Ferret, black-footed * Flamingo, Caribbean * Flamingo, Chilean * Flamingo, greater * Flamingo, lesser * Flying fox, Indian * Flying fox, island * Flying fox, large * Fossa * Fox, bat-eared * Fox, fennec * Fox, swift * Frog, dusky gopher * Frog, Panamanian golden (ahogado) * Frog, Panamanian golden (marta) * Frog, Panamanian Golden (sora) * Frogmouth, tawny * Galago, northern greater * Galliwasp, Hispaniolan giant * Gazelle, addra * Gazelle, Nubian Soemmerring's * Gazelle, slender-horned * Gazelle, Speke's * Gazelle, Thomson's * Gecko, giant leaf-tailed * Gecko, Henkel's leaf-tailed * Gecko, mossy leaf-tailed * Gecko, satanic leaf-tailed * Gemsbok * Gerenuk, southern * Gharial, Indian * Gharial, sunda * Gibbon, lar (white-handed) * Gibbon, white-cheeked * Giraffe, generic * Giraffe, Masai * Goose, African pygmy * Goose, Indian pygmy * Goose, nene * Goose, Orinoco * Goose, red-breasted * Goose, swan * Goral, Chinese * Gorilla, western * Guineafowl, crested * Guitarfish, bowmouth * Hamerkop * Heron, boat-billed * Hippopotamus, pygmy * Hippopotamus, river * Hog, red river * Honeyeater, blue-faced * Hornbill, Abyssinian ground * Hornbill, great * Hornbill, red-billed * Hornbill, rhinoceros * Hornbill, southern ground * Hornbill, trumpeter * Hornbill, wrinkled * Horse, Asian wild * Hwamei, Chinese * Hyena, spotted * Hyrax, rock * Ibex, Nubian * Ibis, African sacred * Ibis, hadada * Ibis, Madagascar crested * Ibis, scarlet * Ibis, southern bald (cape) * Ibis, straw-necked * Ibis, waldrapp * Iguana, Fiji banded * Iguana, Grand Cayman blue * Iguana, Jamaican * Impala * Jaguar * Jay, plush-crested * Kangaroo, eastern gray * Kangaroo, red * Kangaroo, western gray * Kea * Kingfisher, Guam * Kinkajou * Kiwi, North Island brown *

Klipspringer The klipspringer (; ''Oreotragus oreotragus'') is a small antelope found in eastern and southern Africa. The sole member of its genus and subfamily/tribe, the klipspringer was first described by German zoologist Eberhard August Wilhelm von Zim ...

* Koala, Queensland * Kookaburra, laughing * Kudu, greater * Kudu, lesser * Langur, Francois' * Langur, silvered leaf * Lapwing, masked * Lapwing, spur-winged * Laughingthrush, white-crested * Lechwe, Nile * Leiothrix, red-billed * Lemur, black-and-white ruffed * Lemur, blue-eyed black * Lemur, collared * Lemur, crowned * Lemur, gray mouse * Lemur, mongoose * Lemur, red ruffed * Lemur, ring-tailed * Leopard, clouded * Leopard, snow * Liocichla, scarlet-faced * Lion * Lizard, Caiman * Lizard, Chinese crocodile * Lizard, Rio Fuerte beaded * Loris, pygmy slow * Lynx, Canada * Macaque, Japanese * Macaw, blue-throated * Macaw, hyacinth * Macaw, red-fronted * Magpie, azure-winged * Magpie, red-billed blue * Mandrill * Mangabey, black * Mara, Patagonian * Markhor, Turkmenian * Marmoset, Geoffroy's * Marmoset, pygmy * Meerkat * Merganser, scaly-sided * Mongoose, banded * Mongoose, dwarf * Monitor, black tree * Monitor, crocodile * Monkey, Allen's swamp * Monkey, Bolivian gray titi * Monkey, Central American spider * Monkey, common squirrel * Monkey, DeBrazza's * Monkey, diana * Monkey, Mexican spider * Monkey, patas * Monkey, robust black spider * Monkey, Schmidt's red-tailed * Monkey, southern black howler * Motmot, blue-crowned * Mouse, Perdido Key beach * Muntjac, Reeves' * Murre, common * Myna, Bali * Mynah, golden-crested * Nyala, lowland * Ocelot * Okapi * Onager, Persian * Orangutan, Bornean * Orangutan, Sumatran * Oropendola, crested * Oryx, Arabian * Oryx, scimitar-horned * Otter, Asian small-clawed * Otter, giant * Otter, North American river * Otter, sea (northern spp.) * Otter, sea (southern spp.) * Otter, spotted-necked * Owl, burrowing * Owl, Eurasian eagle * Owl, snowy * Owl, spectacled * Owl, Verreaux's eagle * Panda, giant * Panda, red (fulgens) * Panda, red (refulgens) * Parrot, hawk-weaded * Parrot, thick-billed * Partridge, crested wood * Peafowl, Congo * Peccary, Chacoan * Pelican, Dalmatian * Pelican, great white * Pelican, pink-backed * Penguin, African * Penguin, chinstrap * Penguin, gentoo (ellsworthi) * Penguin, gentoo (papua) * Penguin, Humboldt * Penguin, king * Penguin, little blue * Penguin, macaroni * Penguin, Magellanic * Penguin, southern rockhopper * Pheasant, Palawan peacock * Pheasant, Vietnam * Pig, Visayan warty * Pigeon, green-naped pheasant * Pigeon, nicobar * Pigeon, Victoria crowned * Pigeon, western (blue) crowned * Pitta, hooded * Pochard, Baer's * Porcupine, cape and crestedCurrently this is the Species Survival Program that contains more than one species. * Porcupine, North American * Porcupine, prehensile-tailed * Pronghorn, peninsular * Pudu, Chilean * Puffin, Atlantic * Puffin, horned * Puffin, tufted * Rattlesnake, Aruba Island * Rattlesnake, Eastern Massasauga * Rattlesnake, Mexican lance-headed * Rattlesnake, Santa Catalina Island * Ray, spotted eagle * Rhinoceros, eastern black * Rhinoceros, greater one-horned * Rhinoceros, southern white *

Ringtail The ringtail (''Bassariscus astutus'') is a mammal of the raccoon family native to arid regions of North America. It is widely distributed and well adapted to disturbed areas. It has been legally trapped for its fur. It is listed as Least Co ...

* Roadrunner, greater * Roller, blue-bellied * Saki, white-faced * Sawfish, largetooth * Sawfish, longcomb * Sawfish, smalltooth * Screamer, southern * Sea lion, California * Sea eagle, Steller's * Seahorse, big-bellied * Seahorse, lined * Seal, grey * Seal, harbor * Secretarybird * Seriema, red-legged * Serval * Shama, white-rumped * Shark, blacktip reef * Shark, sand tiger * Shark, zebra * Sheep, desert bighorn * Siamang * Sifaka, Coquerel's *

Sitatunga The sitatunga or marshbuck (''Tragelaphus spekii'') is a swamp-dwelling antelope found throughout central Africa, centering on the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Cameroon, parts of Southern Sudan, Equatorial Guinea ...

* Skink, prehensile-tailed * Sloth, Hoffman's two-toed * Sloth, Linne's two-toed * Snail, partula * Snake, eastern indigo * Snake, Louisiana pine * Spider, gooty sapphire ornamental * Spoonbill, African * Spoonbill, roseate * Springbok, South African * Squirrel, Prevost's * Starling, emerald * Starling, golden-breasted * Starling, grosbeak * Starling, violet-backed (amethyst) * Stilt, black-necked * Stingray, bigtooth river * Stingray, ocellated river * Stingray, Tiger River * Stingray, white-blotched river * Stork, Abdim's (white-bellied) * Stork, marabou * Stork, milky * Stork, saddle-billed * Stork, white * Stork, yellow-billed * Sunbittern * Swan, coscoroba * Swan, trumpeter * Takin, Sichuan * Tamandua, southern * Tamarin, bearded emperor * Tamarin, cotton-top * Tamarin, golden lion * Tamarin, golden-headed lion * Tamarin, pied * Tanager, blue-grey * Tanager, silver-beaked * Tanager, turquoise * Tapir, Baird's (Central American) * Tapir, Malayan (Asian) * Teal, marbled * Teal, Madagascar * Tenrec, lesser Madagascar hedgehog * Tern, Inca * Terrapin, painted * Thrush, chestnut-backed * Tiger, Amur *

Tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living Felidae, cat species and a member of the genus ''Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily pr ...

* Tiger, Malayan * Tiger, Sumatran * Tinamou, elegant crested * Toad, Houston * Toad, Wyoming * Tortoise, African pancake * Tortoise, brown forest * Tortoise, Burmese black * Tortoise, Burmese star * Tortoise, Egyptian * Tortoise, Forsten's * Tortoise, Galapagos (microphyes) * Tortoise, Galapagos (porteri) * Tortoise, Galapagos (vicina) * Tortoise, Home's hinge-back * Tortoise, Madagascar flat-tailed * Tortoise, Madagascar spider (common) * Tortoise, Madagascar spider (northern) * Tortoise, Madagascar spider (southern) * Tortoise, radiated * Toucan, keel-billed * Toucan, Toco * Tragopan, Cabot's * Tree kangaroo, Matschie's * Tree shrew, northern * Troupial * Turaco, great blue * Turaco, Lady Ross' * Turaco, red-crested * Turaco, violaceous * Turaco, white-cheeked * Turtle, Arakan forest * Turtle, black-breasted leaf * Turtle, Blanding's * Turtle, bog * Turtle, Coahuilan box * Turtle, four-eyed * Turtle, Indochinese box * Turtle, keeled box * Turtle, Malaysian giant * Turtle, McCord's box * Turtle, Northwestern pond * Turtle, Pan's box * Turtle, Rote Island snake-necked * Turtle, southwestern pond * Turtle, spiny * Turtle, spotted * Turtle, Sulawesi forest * Turtle, Vietnamese pond * Turtle, wood * Turtle, yellow-blotched map * Turtle, yellow-headed temple * Urial, Transcaspian * Vulture, African white-backed * Vulture, cape * Vulture, Eurasian black * Vulture, hooded * Vulture, king * Vulture, lappet-faced * Vulture, Ruppell's griffon * Wallaby, Bennett's * Wallaby, tammar * Wallaroo, common * Warthog, common * Waterbuck, common * Weaver, white-headed buffalo * Whale, beluga *

Wildebeest Wildebeest ( , , ), also called gnu ( or ), are antelopes of the genus ''Connochaetes'' and native to Eastern and Southern Africa. They belong to the family Bovidae, which includes true antelopes, cattle, goats, sheep, and other even-toe ...

* Wolf, maned * Wolf, Mexican gray * Wolf, red * Wood hoopoe, green * Zebra, Grevy's * Zebra, Hartmann's mountain * Zebra, plains

SSP program

SSP master plan

See also

List of SSP programs

Notes

References

External links