Zoo Zoo (Wildlife Conservation Society) leading the discussion. From then on, zoo professionals became increasingly aware of the need to engage themselves in conservation programs, and the American Zoo Association soon said that conservation was its highest priority. In order to stress conservation issues, many large zoos stopped the practice of having animals perform tricks for visitors. The Detroit Zoo, for example, stopped its elephant show in 1969, and its chimpanzee show in 1983, acknowledging that the trainers had probably abused the animals to get them to perform. Whipsnade Park in Bedfordshire, England, was opened in 1931 as the first safari
Rosamond Gifford Zoo plan was approved by the Onondaga County legislature in 1981. The old zoo was closed in 1982 and the thirteen million dollar project (ten million of which was provided by the county and the rest by the "Friends of the Burnet Park Zoo") began in 1983. The zoo reopened in 1986 and received its accreditation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums the following year; it was re-accredited a decade later. The zoo initiated a capital campaign in 1998 to fund a new conservation and education center and tiger and rainforest exhibits. Following a two million dollar endowment by the