Western chimpanzees are found in West Africa and this subspecies is listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN Red List. Since 2015, Dublin Zoo has been providing ongoing funding for Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary – Community Outreach Programme in Sierra Leone. This initiative promotes community conservation and environmentally friendly farming; with 50% of chimpanzees in Sierra Leone living outside protected areas, this is a vital programme.

In 2017, Dublin Zoo increased funding to assist Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary in helping victims of the mudslides in Freetown. In addition, in 2018, Dublin Zoo raised extra funds to assist Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary to upgrade their quarantine facilities to accommodate the growing number of orphaned chimpanzees that have been rescued by the sanctuary.

Dublin Zoo also participates in the European Endangered Species Breeding Programme for chimpanzees.

A major loss of chimpanzee habitat in Sierra Leone is due to slash-and-burn agriculture, whereby the vegetation is cut down and burnt and creating land for farming. However, the soil on this land is poor and farmers need to slash and burn more forest after a few years. The Tacugama Community Outreach Programme is working with farmers to use permanent fields and build up soil health, thus reducing the need to destroy chimpanzee habitats. The programme is also encouraging farmers to return some farmland to the forest. In addition to this, it is arranging workshops with local communities to talk about chimpanzees, habitat protection, and how this affects their local community.

Conservation breeding

What they say about Dublin Zoo’s support

Status in the wild

Both Amur tigers and Amur leopards are threatened by habitat loss, poaching (of both tigers/leopards and their prey) and human-wildlife conflict. Amur tigers are listed as Endangered under the IUCN Red List, while the Amur tigers are listed as Critically Endangered. It is estimated that less than 400 Amur tigers persist in the wild today, and less than 100 Amur leopards, with all populations restricted to the Russian Far East and Northeast China.

Comment from WildCats Conservation Alliance

The Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary

The Government of Indonesia and international rhino conservation experts have agreed that the only way to bring the Sumatran rhino back from the brink of extinction is to bring together the fragmented and widely dispersed wild populations into managed breeding facilities under an emergency action plan. Dublin Zoo is supporting the main Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary in Way Kambas National Park, where ten animals currently form the only captive breeding group of Sumatran rhinos in the world, benefitting from expert nutrition and veterinary care. Each of the rhino bomas at the sanctuary are approximately 30 acres in size, providing access for the rhinos to native plant species for food, and mud wallows for bathing.

What they say about Dublin Zoo’s support

Following the success of its first-ever Run for Wildlife in July 2025, Dublin Zoo is proud to announce a strengthened partnership with long-time conservation partner Selamatkan Yaki, becoming the programme’s primary donor and lead advocate for the Critically Endangered Sulawesi crested macaque, or “yaki”. To learn more about this partnership and Run for Wildlife, read more here.

In 2017, Registrar/Research and Conservation Coordinator, Sandra Molloy, visited Selamatkan Yaki and observed many aspects of their work.

Dublin Zoo also takes part in a European breeding programme for Sulawesi-crested macaques.

Status in the wild

Throughout most of its range, the snow leopard lives alongside low-income agricultural communities. As predators, snow leopards will occasionally predate upon livestock, which can lead to conflict with local communities, and retaliatory killing of snow leopards to protect livestock herds.

To prevent this, the Snow Leopard Trust operates community-based conservation programmes which provide incentives for local herders to protect wildlife and ecosystems. This includes a livestock insurance programme, providing compensation to rural communities for lost animals, and reducing the financial impact of snow leopard predation. To participate in the scheme herders must sign a conservation agreement and pledge to protect both snow leopards and wild prey species.

Rescue and rehabilitation

Seals in Ireland are threatened by a variety of human-related activities, ranging from entanglement in discarded fishing materials, to habitat destruction, human disturbance, and even unsustainable fishing. Similarly, climate change poses a big risk to Irish seals.

The increase in frequency and severity of extreme weather events, such as storms, as a direct result of climate change, can have a direct impact on Ireland’s seals. Large waves during storms can impact otherwise safe pupping grounds, and result in grey seal pups being swept from their rookeries.

What they say about working with Dublin Zoo