Non-domestic animal facilities in the United States have not historically had much access to comprehensive assistance after major catastrophes. Prior to the formation of ZDR3, zoological disaster response generally consisted of informal collaborations in which individual zoological professionals or businesses decided to assist an impacted facility, usually only once it became clear that a facility was overwhelmed and needed help. 

Hurricane Katrina’s devastating impact on facilities in New Orleans in 2005 began the discussion about increased support for facilities holding wild and exotic animals. 

After Hurricane Harvey in 2017, it was recognized that industry response activities needed to be formalized and managed through a dedicated and specialized entity. Informal response operations that assisted Houston-area facilities after the storm had struggled due to a lack of centralized communication or coordination, with predictably chaotic results. Meetings between industry leaders who wanted to improve upon those outcomes began within four months of the incident. Ultimately, this resulted in the founding of ZDR3. 

Zoological Disaster Response, Rescue, and Recovery (ZDR3) was formalized in Texas in 2019 with the initial goal of creating an industry-led network to assist regional facilities damaged by major Atlantic storms. The success of our peer-to-peer response efforts during that record-setting Atlantic hurricane season led to increased interest from zoos and aquariums across the country, so ZDR3 expanded beyond its original region to include all who want to participate.

Today, ZDR3 is the largest zoological disaster response organization in the U.S., with a staff and network ready to assist impacted facilities before, during, and after significant incidents—including those that are not weather-related. Our growing network currently includes more than 175 member facilities in 35 states and U.S. territories, representing a variety of accreditation industry business models, statuses, and membership groups. We could not have achieved this without our staunch supporters.

ZDR3 consists of a small team of dedicated personnel who work year-round to monitor hazards, maintain and grow our response network, and support network readiness. The ZDR3 staff and board members have each experienced and responded to significant zoological disasters that led to our strong commitment to colleagues in need. One thing we have learned is that preparing for catastrophic events should always be approached from the mentality of hoping for the best but preparing for the worst: there is no such thing as being over-prepared.

There’s nothing quite as rewarding as the response we receive when we coordinate professional teams from different facilities into a unified force to help overwhelmed colleagues weather a disaster. By providing outside support to these impacted facilities, we are able to lessen the adverse impact to the personnel, which is critical for the recovery process of an institution and its individuals—human and animal.

As our network has grown, our small staff is being asked by institutions, nonprofits, and government agencies to provide technical information, present at conferences, serve on working groups, and assist with a wider range of disasters across a wider geography—including U.S. territories, such as Guam.

These developments are deeply satisfying because we are having a greater impact than we ever imagined when we launched ZDR3.