habitat affords visitors – including small children – an eye-level view of the otters as they swim. Polk Penguin Conservation Center The Polk Penguin Conservation Center (PPCC), opened in April 2016, is the largest center for penguins in the world and was awarded the 2017 Exhibit Award by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums for excellence in exhibit design. The PPCC was closed for waterproofing repairs until winter/spring 2022. Jane and Frank Warchol Beaver Habitat Opened in 2013, the Jane and Frank Warchol Beaver Habitat abuts the Cotton Family Wetlands, and is home to nine North American beavers. As beavers are nocturnal, their night-time activities are recorded and played throughout the day on televisions in the exhibit. This is the first time beavers have been on display at the Zoo since 1969. The Wildlife Interpretive Gallery The Wildlife Interpretive Gallery is home to the Butterfly Garden, Matilda Wilson Free-Flight Aviary, Science On a Sphere, as well as the Society's permanent fine art collection. The Shelle Isle exhibit is dedicated to the partula snail. Detroit Zoological Society The Detroit Zoological Society is a non-profit organization that operates the Zoo and the Belle Isle Nature Center. Its $44.5 million annual operating budget is supported by earned revenue, philanthropic support, and tri-county (Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne) millage. The organization has 260 full and part-time employees, more than 52,000 member households, and more than 1,000 volunteers. Its mission is "Celebrating and Saving Wildlife", the Society claims to be a leader in animal conservation and welfare. In collaboration with the DNR and USFWS, the Society continues to release Zoo-reared federally endangered Karner blue butterflies in their natural habitats in Michigan. Each summer, Society bird keepers assist with conservation efforts in northern Michigan for the federally endangered Great Lakes piping plover by artificially incubating abandoned piping plover eggs. Most recently, the Society, in collaboration with the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge and the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, established of a common tern nesting site on Belle Isle. The Society assists with the rescue of exotic animals from private owners, pseudo-sanctuaries, roadside zoos, and circuses. Among its rescues are more than 1,000 exotic animals confiscated from an animal wholesaler in Texas, a polar bear confiscated from a circus in Puerto Rico, a lioness used to guard a crack house, and retired racehorses. In addition, the Society and the Michigan Humane Society, in collaboration with dozens of