Mission
We inspire people to live in ways that promote the well-being of the natural world. We will achieve excellence in ecosystem exhibition, education and conservation and will be a principal attraction for residents and visitors.

Conservation
For more and more species of animals and plants, survival is an increasing challenge. At the Phoenix Zoo, we believe we have an obligation to help wherever we can. By themselves, zoos cannot cope with the immensity of this problem — generally caused by human overpopulation and land use. We must try to help where we can and hope others will join in the effort.

The goal of conservation programs at the Phoenix Zoo is to help preserve the diversity of life in nature. Accordingly we work in both husbandry and research projects on behalf of both wildlife and their natural habitats. In addition, we work with the American Zoological Association's (AZA) Species Survival Plan (SSP), a cooperative population management program that aims to maintain a healthy and self-sustaining captive population of selected species. Our goal is to effectively exhibit the Mexican wolves at the zoo, while engaging our visitors in a manner that allows them to care for and to participate in the re-introduction of the Mexican wolf to Arizona landscapes.

The Arizona Zoological Society, working in coordination with the zoo, is actively seeking effective re-establishment of the Mexican wolf in its native range from northern Mexico through Arizona and New Mexico. The Blue Range population of Mexican gray wolves is essential to long-term recovery of this endangered subspecies; captive populations will not safeguard Mexican wolves from extinction in the long-term. An "essential" or an "endangered" designation will give these wolves the stronger protections they need to succeed in the wild. The Arizona Zoological Society seeks to have the Mexican wolf classified as an "experimental, essential" reintroduced population and does so by actively interacting with governmental and non-governmental advocacy action groups in support of re-classification.