The Lincoln Park Zoo is stepping up in the fight against illegal wildlife trafficking.

The zoo has joined the Wildlife Confiscations Network, a program led by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The zoo said the program fights wildlife trafficking while providing urgent care for animals seized at U.S. ports.

The Wildlife Confiscations Network is a made up of 40 vetted and approved zoos, aquariums, non-governmental organizations, universities, botanical gardens, and certified animal sanctuaries that that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service contacts when wild animals are confiscated. The Lincoln Park Zoo is the first Chicago institution to join the network.

"At Lincoln Park Zoo, we say that we're 'For Wildlife. For All.,' and that extends to even the smallest amphibian or songbird being trafficked into or out of the country," Sunny Nelson, vice president of conservation and science at the Lincoln Park Zoo, said in a news release. "We're excited to join the Wildlife Confiscations Network and grow our relationship with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to help provide critical care for confiscated wildlife."

The Lincoln Park Zoo has already helped care for hundreds of confiscated animals and has a longstanding relationship with O'Hare International Airport and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to do so.

In 2023, the Lincoln Park Zoo joined the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for a presentation at Terminal 5 at O'Hare, in which international travelers learned about global wildlife trafficking and how they could help stop it.

The zoo and even trains wildlife detector dogs with rhinoceros horns and nail trimmings obtained during routine care of zoo rhinoceroses. The dogs learn the scent of the trimmings so they can scan bags and luggage at the airport to find rhino horn — a commonly-trafficked animal product.

The Lincoln Park Zoo noted that the trafficking of wildlife products is driving the decline of many species in the wild. Illegal wildlife trafficking is valued at $20 billion a year — behind only drugs, weapons, and human trafficking, the zoo said.