SAFE Silent Auction

Wilder Institute Calgary Zoo is honored to host the 2024 Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Annual Conference, September 14 – 19, in Calgary, Alberta.

Your Support Continues the Momentum of Giving

We are excited to support AZA’s conservation grants programs with the proceeds from the SAFE: Saving Animals From Extinction Silent Auction. Annually, the Silent Auction has been a successful fundraising tool for AZA’s Conservation Grants Fund for collaborative conservation and we look forward to continuing the tradition in Calgary. Your participation in the auction helps support more than 40 SAFE species programs across the globe!

Thank you for helping us achieve the Mutual of Omaha $100,000 match challenge! Your generosity and commitment to Saving Animals from Extinction helped us meet our match!

As a Commercial Member Engagement Council member and key partner of AZA, Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom features many AZA institutions and SAFE species on its Emmy-nominated television series. Together we are saving the most vulnerable wildlife species from extinction. And, together we can see a world where all animals thrive and all people respect, value, and conserve wildlife and wild places. Thank you to Mutual of Omaha for their $100,000 match contribution which doubled AZA SAFE Funds through the match campaign.

With the growing number of SAFE species and increasing member engagement, help us continue the momentum of giving.

Please support SAFE by donating a unique or specialty auction item highlighting your facility, programs, or partners you support for the 2024 Annual Conference. Share this invitation with your own staff, volunteers, and Board members to encourage them to make a personal item donation to the Auction. The donation will have a direct impact on the important work conducted by your staff and colleagues to save animals from extinction. Items will be bid on by attendees during the AZA Annual Conference.

Please review the auction donation instructions before submitting information to the online form. You will first upload a picture of your donation, then you'll be able to provide the additional required information. We are encouraging donors to submit a picture of their item only, and to not send their item to the Calgary Zoo. This way you don't have to complete duties/customs paperwork or pay fees required when shipping to Canada. You will instead ship the item directly to the winner after the Conference.

If you have questions about the Auction, please contact Emily Craddock, Coordinator, Special Experiences, Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo.

Bid on Items at the Conference!

Bidding on Silent Auction items will take place a little different this year. It will be an online auction with some items being physically in the Exhibit Hall and others will be pictures of the donated items. Register for free to view bidding items early and to place your bets when bidding goes live. Bidding goes live on Tuesday, September 17 at 9:00 am MST and ends on Wednesday, September 18 at 7:00 pm MST.

Review the detailed FAQs for any questions about bidding or come to the in-person silent auction in Exhibit Hall A2, Tuesday, September 17 - Wednesday, September 18.