The Minnesota Zoo is an active leader in the conservation of threatened and endangered species. Almost 70 of the animal species currently at the Zoo are classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as Critically Endangered, Endangered, or Vulnerable to becoming endangered. Most of these species are part of international conservation breeding programs to help preserve them for future generations.

African pancake tortoise
African penguin
Amur leopard
Amur tiger
Antler coral
Asian forest tortoise
Asian small-clawed otter
Asian Wild Horse
Atlantic goliath grouper
Atlantic ridley sea turtle
Bactrian camel
Blanding’s turtle
Bali mynah
Binturong
Blue-crowned laughing-thrush
Blue poison dart frog
Blue-throated macaw
Boesemann's rainbowfish
Burmese python
Canada lynx
Cotton-top tamarin
Dhole
Dwarf crocodile
Giant clam
Goitered gazelle
Golden Conure
Golden lion tamarin
Goral
East African Crowned Crane
Eastern box turtle
Grey parrot
Green-cheeked Amazon parrot
Green sea turtle
Henkel’s leaf-tailed gecko
Hyacinth macaw
Komodo monitor
Lake Kutubu rainbowfish
Lake Malawi cichlid
Long-tailed chinchilla
Malayan tapir
Marbled teal
Matschie's tree kangaroo
Military macaw
Northern seahorse
Queen triggerfish
Radiated tortoise
Red-breasted goose
Red panda
Red rainbowfish
Red ruffed lemur
Ring-tailed lemur
Red-tail shark minnow
Sandtiger shark
Sea otter
Takin
Tarantula
Tarpon
Tri-color shark minnow
Victoria crowned pigeon
Visayan warty pig
White-cheeked gibbon
Wood turtle
Yellow-naped amazon parrot
Zebra shark