Zoological Society Of San Diego

Zoological Society Of San Diego, doing business as San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, is a non-profit conservation organization that serves as a prime recipient on federal research grants and cooperative agreements (96% of awards) focused on endangered species recovery, conservation breeding and reintroduction, wildlife monitoring, and science education, with no federal set-aside designations and work spanning research, veterinary services, and field programming across domestic and international locations.

SDZWA operates primarily as a grant recipient rather than a contract vendor. The organization holds a significant federal grant footprint anchored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Geological Survey. From the past five years, SDZWA has received 143 total awards (prime and sub combined) with a combined potential value of $3.4 million, though obligated dollars ($82.9 million) substantially exceed potential value, indicating mature, multi-year cooperative agreements with ongoing funding modifications. The top five customer agencies by award count—Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Region 8 (28 awards), USGS Office of Acquisitions and Grants (18 awards, $489 thousand), Fish and Wildlife Service headquarters (16 awards, $24 thousand), Fish and Wildlife Service Region 1 (14 awards, $14 thousand), and Department of the Navy (9 awards)—account for 59% of recent awards. By dollar value, the Department of the Navy's U.S. Pacific Fleet Forces dominates with $2.7 million across four awards, while USGS and other Interior bureaus carry the remaining grant volume in smaller per-award amounts.

SDZWA's primary capability portfolio centers on conservation breeding and reintroduction programs for critically endangered species. Representative work includes a $1.202 million Museums for America grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (awarded September 2026, running through August 2029) to launch the Wild Beginnings nature-based early learning program for transitional kindergarten and kindergarten students in San Diego County, reaching over 3,000 students with in-school instruction and field trips; a $365,344 Fish and Wildlife Service grant (December 2024–November 2026) to reduce human-jaguar conflicts and promote coexistence in the Peruvian Amazon through training and mitigation programs; and a $316,174 National Science Foundation grant (April 2023–March 2026, CFDA 47.074) to evaluate behavioral and physiological flexibility in endangered Mojave desert tortoises under climate change scenarios. SDZWA also operates the Keauhou and Maui Bird Conservation Centers in Hawaii as part of a forest bird conservation breeding partnership with USFWS and the State of Hawaii, having reared over 1,150 offspring from 16 Hawaiian bird species and released over 840 birds to the wild since 1993. Additional programmatic work includes conservation breeding for mountain yellow-legged frogs, Pacific pocket mice (in partnership with Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton), San Bernardino kangaroo rats, Mariana crows, and imperiled butterfly species. Education programming targets Title I schools in San Diego and Los Angeles counties, connecting 576 students annually to conservation science through teacher workshops and field research at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park's Outdoor Learning Lab.

SDZWA holds two named parent vehicles: USGS Indefinite Delivery Contract 140G0321D0008 (10 task orders, $31 thousand combined potential value), a $200,000 IDIQ running through September 2026 for desert tortoise laboratory testing services, and Indefinite Delivery Contract ING16PC00079 (5 task orders, $36 thousand combined potential value). Work is performed in San Diego, California; Henderson, Nevada; Hawaii (Keauhou and Maui conservation centers); Marine Corps installations; and internationally in Peru. Performance locations for specific grants include Henderson for USGS tortoise work, Naval Base Coronado and Camp Pendleton for seabird and small mammal monitoring, and the Escondido, California Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center for Conservation Research.

Activity has declined from 15 awards in 2023 to 3 awards in 2026 (year-to-date through September), with 9 awards facing ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months and therefore requiring recompete attention. SDZWA subcontracts on an estimated 4% of its recent federal footprint (6 sub-awards identified), including a subaward from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to advance recruitment and translocation strategies for Mojave desert tortoises (March 2026) and a subaward from University of California, Davis to co-design sensing technologies for conservation science and pathogen monitoring (October 2025).

The organization's NAICS footprint reflects its core mission: Veterinary Services (25 awards) and Zoos and Botanical Gardens (5 awards) dominate category concentration. PSC coding aligns with biological research and conservation: Special Studies/Analysis—Wildlife (10 awards), Special Studies/Analysis—Animal/Fisheries (8 awards), Special Studies/Analysis—Endangered Species: Plant/Animal (6 awards), and Other QC/Test/Inspect—Instruments and Laboratory Equipment (6 awards).