FORT WAYNE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY INC

Programs

1. Educational & membership services:at the end of 2024, we had just over 19,000 active member households, about an 8% increase from 2023. We kicked off our 2024 season with an exclusive member day on april 26th. Members were provided with a number of special discounts and early-access offerings all season long, including a discount in the wild things gift shop, a member presale of zoofari tickets, etc. As part of the association of zoos and aquariums (aza) reciprocity program, zoo members were able to participate in discounted admission to over 150 zoos and aquariums throughout north america. This included temporary, 100% admission reciprocity with toledo zoo. In august, member appreciation month was once again a big hit with our members. Families also enjoyed free admission to our wild zoo halloween and wild zoo wonderland events. Last year's cyber monday incentive was extended this year to black friday through giving tuesday, giving two complimentary guest passes to new, renewing, or gift memberships purchased from november 29th - december 3rd. This promotion drove holiday membership sales, with over 660 memberships sold in five days. Conservation education continues to be a focus…

   $4,019,449 spentof which $11,280 as grants$3,234,598 earned by the program
   32% of program spending

2. Animal exhibits and improvements:animal programs: in 2024, the fort wayne zoo continued to grow and evolve in exciting ways, from new births and animal additions to major exhibit transformations that deepen our commitment to conservation and guest engagement. In august we celebrated the birth of a female giraffe calf, a significant conservation milestone for the association of zoos and aquariums (aza) species survival program (ssp). The zoo actively participates in over 60 ssp programs, working to ensure genetically diverse, sustainable populations of threatened species. Earlier in april, we welcomed the return of two male ring-tailed lemurs, reintroducing them to the africa section. They were soon joined by another male and a female. Behind-the-scenes introductions have gone smoothly, with promising signs of a cohesive social group forming. In our lush, tropical indonesian rain forest dome aviary, the critically endangered mariana fruit doves were added and have already been observed engaging in nest-building behavior, an encouraging step for this rare species. Our schmidt's guenons (monkeys) also had exciting news: a new pair was successfully introduced. On november 16, they…

   $5,149,919 spent$5,491,178 earned by the program
   41% of program spending

3. Conservation & research: conservation & research the zoo is a conservation leader, providing financial support to 40 conservation partners around the globe in 2024. The kids for nature conservation kiosk continues to involve guests in conservation, allowing them to vote among three projects with their zoo provided penny at the entrance. Funds are generated through ticket sales and memberships, along with corks for conservation event proceeds, employee giving, guests donations and wild things gift shop "round up" program. The zoo participates in various research projects initiated by external and internal investigators that want to learn more about the animals that call our zoo home. One of our signature conservation programs is headstarting eastern hellbenders in partnership with purdue university, the department of natural resources, and several other midwest zoos. We currently have over 300 hellbenders that are being raised for future release into the wild. In collaboration with purdue university, we have completed our initial growth rate trends and unique spot pattern retention potential. The data will then be used as we investigate if size versus age has a more significant…

   $376,823 spentof which $137,951 as grants$1,689,248 earned by the program
   3% of program spending

4. Attendance: in 2024, the zoo hosted over 630,000 guests. The zoo was open 9 months for guests and members extending the traditional 6 month zoo season. The zoo opened for the first time during spring break and remained opened for the wild zoo spring preview throughout weekends in april. Extending past halloween, the zoo was open weekends in november for fall weekends and ended the year with the family favorite wild zoo wonderland in december. New consumer events were a hit with guests and helped the zoo reach new audiences, including the big bugabaloo, featuring giant animatronic bugs on exhibit in august, our new adult only rock & roar events saw 2,800 guests over 5 evenings throughout the season. Wild zoo halloween, our largest annual consumer event hosted 2 sold out brunches where kids could interact with their favorite princesses.

   $3,014,587 spent$860,918 earned by the program
   24% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $12,560,778.