Kid Territory:Jobs: Saving Endangered Plants
Sharing information about plant conservation with visitors to the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park is an important part of helping endangered plant species.
Seeds from endangered native plants are sorted, maintained, and stored in the Seed Bank facility at the Wild Animal Park.
Many varieties of orchids are endangered. The Zoo maintains an orchid greenhouse to care for these delicate and beautiful specimens. The greenhouse is open to the public during Orchid Odyssey days.
What we do
At the San Diego Zoo and the Wild Animal Park we’re concerned with protecting endangered plants as well as endangered animals! Our job involves monitoring, researching, protecting, and preserving rare species of plants that live right here in San Diego County. And many of us plant and take care of threatened and endangered plant species at the Zoo and Wild Animal Park, such as our orchid, cycad, and palm collections. We even maintain a plant rescue center for endangered plants that were taken illegally from the wild.
Some of us walk around the wild protected areas of the Wild Animal Park (over 800 acres!) in order to make a list of all the native plants we have on the property. We also deal with exotic invasive plants (weeds that take over water or soil being used by native plants) and work on ways to get rid of those.
An important part of our job is to collect and store the seeds of endangered plants from our county. We maintain them in a special place called the Seed Bank. By preserving these seeds we can store them for up to 200 years! All of these responsibilities are part of a plan to conserve rare native species.
What’s cool about this job
When we’re collecting plants, we get to hike around the wild areas at the Park—that’s fun! Sometimes we come across a plant that we didn’t expect to find in the area, so it’s exciting, too. Occasionally we have the opportunity to travel around the world collecting plants, visiting places like Papua New Guinea, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Australia. We’re able to experience nature in its true wonder, and see the last of the wild places while they’re still there.
Job challenges
Getting permits to do our kind of conservation work involves a lot of paperwork. One of the permits even requires passing a test to get a license…and it’s a hard test!
How this job helps animals
All animals rely on plants, directly or indirectly. By conserving the plants, we help the rest of the wild community. We help save endangered habitat, and may thereby help save endangered animal species.
How to get a job like this
Stay in school and study plants. You can also go to the library and read about plants on your own. And, of course, come learn about endangered plants by visiting the Zoo and the Wild Animal Park.
