floods). In a 12-hour period, with flood waters rising, zoo staff managed to move 140 animals to higher ground. In the end, the only animals lost were a number of fish, two peacocks, and a pot-bellied pig. The zoo was closed for most of July 2013; the northern 60 acres of the zoo reopened to the public for August through November. The zoo fully reopened in November 2013 with new animals, exhibits, and features unveiled in 2014, including mandrills and Komodo dragons. Conservation One third of the zoo's 130 species are cared for within Species Survival Plans, a global initiative to protect at-risk genetic diversity. Twenty-nine species at the zoo are in danger of extinction. Other species are considered "ambassadors" for endangered species. The Calgary Zoo uses a team of educators including animal keepers, interpreters, teachers, and volunteers to increase awareness among visitors about the beauty of nature and threats to wildlife. Each year the zoo's formal programs connect directly with more than 575,000 adults and children. The Calgary Zoo is home to a team of biologists who have earned international recognition as North America's leaders in the science of species recovery and reintroduction. The science journal Nature rates the Calgary Zoo as one of the top five zoos in the world for conservation research, alongside New York, San Diego, Frankfurt, and London. In June 2012, the head of the Calgary Zoo's Centre for Conservation Research, Dr. Axel Moehrenschlager, was awarded the Canadian Wildlife Federation's Roland Michener Conservation Award which recognizes individuals who have shown a commitment to "promote, enhance, and further the conservation of Canada's natural resources". Dr. Moehrenschlager is chair of the Reintroduction Specialist Group within the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the world's largest conservation network. He is the first North American to hold this position. The zoo focused on saving eight highly endangered Western Canada species: whooping crane, Vancouver Island marmot, swift fox, black-footed ferret, black-tailed prairie dog, burrowing owl, northern leopard frog and greater sage grouse. It also works on conservation projects around the world, including: Wechiau Community Hippo Sanctuary, Ghana Snow leopards in Central Asia, and Gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo In 2008, the zoo's Wechiau Community Hippo Sanctuary project, a collaboration involving 17 Ghana villages, was awarded the United Nations Equator Prize as one of the world's top 25 conservation initiatives. It has become a model for community-based conservation