Conservation Efforts & Programs

Zoo Conservation Outreach Group (ZCOG)

ZCOG is an organization made up of numerous zoos throughout the United States who have pooled their resources to support wildlife conservation in Central and South America. The Bergen County Zoo is an institutional member of ZCOG. 

Brazilian Ocelot Consortium

This organization was formed to create a sustainable captive population of Brazilian ocelots in the United States. The Bergen County Zoo is one of 10 founding members of this organization and, as such, will receive a pair of Brazilian-born ocelots that will serve as part of the founding population for this species in North American zoos.

Field Conservation Grant Program

Each year, the Friends of the Bergen County Zoo awards grants to help support field conservation projects throughout North and South America. 

Among the many projects that the Bergen County Zoo has participated in or supported since the inception of the grant program are the following:

  • Release of a Bergen County Zoo-hatched Andean Condor Chick in Colombia
  • Population study of Threatened Wood Turtles in New Jersey
  • Construction of breeding ponds for endangered Puerto Rican Crested Toads
  • Nutritional assessment of Anegada Island Iguanas
  • Health assessment of Wild Giant Anteaters in Brazil
  • Development of the Brazilian Ocelot consortium
  • Nutrition, toxicology, and genetics of wild Giant Anteaters in Paraguay
  • Release program for Andean Condors along the Atlantic Coast of Argentina
  • Conservation initiative for the Golden-Cheeked Warbler in Honduras
  • Field participation by Bergen County Zoo staff in Thailand Clouded Leopard Conservation Program
  • Borderlands Jaguar Detection Project on US / Mexican Border
  • Restoration of Wintering Bat habitat in Morris County, NJ
  • Creating a Condor Conservation Corridor in Argentina
  • Distribution / demographics of Diamondback Terrapins in Galveston Bay, TX

Contact Us

 Bergen County Zoo

Phone: 201-634-3100


 Bergen County Department of Parks

One Bergen County Plaza • 4th Floor • Hackensack, NJ 07601-7076

Phone: 201-336-7275