Our Zoo actively welcomes guests representing the multiple cultural traditions that flourish throughout North Carolina. We find ways to address the perspectives and insights of these guests by offering them diverse ways to connect to and find delight in wildlife and nature. Our commitment to preserving the complexity and beauty of North Carolina’s native forests and landscapes fortifies our efforts to encourage curiosity about the natural world and, by extension, demonstrate the benefits that healthy environments and vibrant communities bring to us, our neighbors, and other people around the world.
The care and enrichment our Zoo provides its animals underscores our commitment to model empathy and impart wisdom as well as knowledge in the experiences folded into a Zoo adventure. We theme these educational experiences to help clarify some of the complex environmental and wildlife conservation issues we face at the local, state, and national levels.
Our Zoo arranges work and guests’ experiences that celebrate the traditions and ideas of the multiple communities represented by North Carolina’s residents. We partner with communities to learn how their histories and customs have shaped their perspectives and to consider how their ideas can expand our own.
We use these experiences to promote curiosity and empathy among our staff to help them understand, honor, and engage with all the people who visit our Zoo or share our workspaces. Acknowledging these communities provides opportunities for employees to feel seen and respected for their contributions to our Zoo. It also provides a model for employees to extend this grace of recognition to their coworkers and to our guests.
We invite North Carolinians from all cultural traditions to join us in protecting wildlife and wild places. Our collective wisdom will provide a deeper understanding of the world—we can plan programs to help North Carolina become more vibrant, more interesting, and healthier for all of us. By working with communities across the state, we can build an extensive, welcoming network of informed individuals who are well-prepared and committed to protecting and conserving the state’s and the world’s wildlife, ecosystems, and human communities.
