Be Part of Endangered Species Day!

Started by the Senate in 2006, Endangered Species Day is celebrated every year on the third Friday in May. This year’s momentous 5th anniversary Endangered Species Day promises to be the most engaging yet.

Endangered Species Day Resolution and Proclamation

Recently, the Endangered Species Day resolution was unanimously passed in the U.S. Senate. The resolution (S. Res. 503) “encourages the people of the United States to become educated about and aware of threats to species, success stories in species recovery and the opportunity to promote species conservation worldwide and to observe the day with appropriate ceremonies and activities.”

Each year, over 100 events are held at parks, refuges, schools and museums around the nation. Events will be held at the United States Capitol, United States Botanic Garden, the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Maine Wildlife Park, the Bozeman Fish Hatchery, and many other locations!

We’ve detailed all of the exciting events and activities for you to be part of at our Endangered Species Day website. Also there, you can find a comprehensive Endangered Species Day toolkit to plan last minute events, including educational materials, media materials and outreach materials.

Endangered Species Day Landmark Events

Endangered Species Day at the U.S. Botanic Garden
100 Maryland Ave SW
Washington, DC 20002
Friday, May 21, 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM

The U.S. Botanic Garden is one of many botanic gardens worldwide that actively participate in the conservation of endangered species by maintaining live specimens in their collections, studying wild plants at risk, banking seeds of rare plants, and introducing rare plants to the horticultural trade. As one of 62 repositories for plants that have been seized by customs agents through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the Botanic Garden accepts and cares for orchids and succulents. The event will focus on endangered plants and their relationship to pollinators and the environment.

Endangered Species Day at the Chula Vista Nature Center
Sweetwater Marsh National Wildlife Refuge
Chula Vista, California
Friday, May 21, 10:30 AM

The Chula Vista Nature Center is a living, breathing, flapping, buzzing and splashing home to the unique animals and plants of Southern California. The Nature Center aquariums are home to Moray eels, Leopard sharks, stingrays, guitarfish and other marine life found in San Diego Bay. Rescued birds thrive at exhibits like Raptor Row and Eagle Mesa. Owls, pelicans, gnatcatchers and eagles are just a few of our resident native birds. The Nature Center partners with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, SeaWorld, San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park, and independent biologists to captive – breed and release one of California’s most endangered water birds – the Light-footed Clapper Rail.

Golden Gate National Park Endangered Species Weekend
San Francisco, CA
May 21, 22 & 23, 2010

At the Golden Gate National Park there are more federally protected species than any other unit of the National Park System in continental North America: more than Yosemite, Yellowstone, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks combined! This is an opportunity to learn more about the many species in the park, It is also an opportunity to write about all the work that is being done to help, and why the Park is so important to the residents of San Francisco and Marin County. California red-legged frog, coho salmon, mission blue butterfly, Presidio clarkia are but a few of the species that will be focused on this weekend.

We really hope that you can participate in an Endangered Species Day event near you. To find more information about these and other events, please see the full events list on our website. Happy Endangered Species Day!