National Threatened Species Day, 7th September

For the first time ever Australian zoos and aquariums with the support of National living treasure Dawn Fraser, will unite for National Threatened Species Day on Tuesday 7th September, under the banner of the Zoo and Aquarium Association. Zoo keepers, celebrity ambassadors and an exciting line up of endangered animals will be educating the public at sites around New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, Western Australia and Australian Capital Territory to highlight the vital issue of threatened species.

From 9am to 2pm, celebrity ambassadors for National Threatened Species Day; Dawn Fraser (Sydney), Frank the Bilby Man (Melbourne) Ch. 10's Dr Chris Brown from Bondi Vet (Sydney), Natalie Hunter and Ranger Stacey from Totally Wild (Melbourne and Brisbane respectively) will attend.

A range of endangered species including Bilbies, Galapagos Tortoise, Rock Wallaby, Gila Monsters and young Tasmanian Devils will converge on city streets to engage with local community and draw attention to the plight of their species.

The date for National Threatened Species Day, 7th September commemorates the last day of that the Tasmanian Tiger was alive in 1936. Now, nearly 75 years later, Australia is still facing the extinction of many threatened species including Australia's very own Bilby and Tasmanian Devil. Zoos are currently the only viable solution to saving the Tasmanian Devil through captive breeding programs.

An independent study, recently commissioned by the Zoo and Aquarium Association on the role of zoos and aquariums in Australia revealed the diverse and invaluable contribution that zoos make to conservation, education and research in Australia.

• Zoos and aquariums are the second most popular cultural activity in Australia with over 15 million visitors annually, second only to the cinema
• Educate over 600,000 students per annum
• Rescue and rehabilitate on average over 14,000 Australian animals each year
• Care for 370 species on the International Union Conservation for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list of endangered species

Additionally, Tour de Conserve, a group of 20 zoo directors and staff set off from the event on a week-long cycling campaign to 'save a species', arriving at Sea World on 13th September after travelling over 800km.

For more information about National Threatened Species Day, or the Zoo and Aquarium Association visit www.zooaquarium.org.au