Leaders hold annual meeting about wildlife

NEW HANOVER COUNTY (WWAY) — Hundreds of aquarium and zoo leaders from across the country met at the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher.

 They had a Directors’ Policy Conference through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).

More than 200 leaders will share some practices on preserving all kinds of wildlife between Tuesday and Thursday.

Leader Jim Breheny says its something the association does every year.

“Basically what we can do to better inform the public,” Breheny said. “Everything we’ll do to not only take the best care of animals that we have in our zoos and aquariums, but also to save the species in the wild.”

The conference will give leaders time to plan out how they can advance animal care and welfare, public engagement, and conservation of wildlife.

North Carolina Aquarium Director Hap Fatzinger says wildlife trafficking is also a huge issue they are looking to tackle.

“What can we do better, how can we work better more collectively, to understand the issue, but also the action that we need to take against the illegal trafficking of wildlife from native habitats,” Fatzinger said.

Zoos and aquariums across the country welcome more than 200 million guests every year.

Last year, guests contributed more than $231 million dollars to research and conservation efforts, to save species.