ZAA Animal Exhibit Award of Excellence - 2026

The Animal Exhibit Award of Excellence recognizes excellence in the area of new and unique live animal display, exhibit design, and construction by a ZAA member. Innovation and unique approaches to animal welfare, husbandry, public appreciation, success in design and operation, educational message and prioritization of conservation and breeding above huge capital spending, are ZAA imperatives. Innovations in exhibit design and development allow more ZAA institutions to participate in high quality habitats facilitating species welfare and conservation.

COMPLETION GUIDELINES

APPLICATION – Be as complete and descriptive as possible to improve chances for committee approval!

Eligibility: Must be a ZAA member. Exhibit must have opened between January 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026.

Deadline: Applications must be received via Google Form by the ZAA office no later than June 30, 2026.

Multiple award exclusion-This award is designed for recognition of a single exhibit development.

Facilities may apply for both the Animal Exhibit Award of Excellence and a Comprehensive Immersion Exhibit Award during the same award cycle. However, if a facility is awarded the Comprehensive Immersion Exhibits Award (CEA), it cannot also receive the single exhibit, Animal Exhibit Award of Excellence for an exhibit within a CEA development. Vice versa, a facility will not qualify to receive the CEA award if it has received an Animal Exhibit Award of Excellence for an exhibit within the CEA area development.

General information:

By submitting an application for this award, it is understood that ZAA has been given permission to reprint information for ZAA-related publications.
Multiple exhibits can be submitted for consideration; however, each must be submitted as a separate entry.
If you are using a pre-written (published) description of your project summary, it must be limited to one page and include the same information that is requested in the application or attach any missing information to the application.
Optional: Up to two additional attachments may be submitted in support of your application. (Example: pre-printed articles or media articles)

How to submit:

Complete the form in it's entirety.

If you have any questions, please contact [email protected]

Are you a ZAA Member? If not, you don't qualify to submit an awards application. Contact [email protected] for more information! *

Yes

Facility Name *

Facility size *

Small/Medium (1-19 Full Time Employees)

Large/Macro (20+ Full-Time Employees)

Name and Title of Applicant *

Email of the preparer *

(This individual will be the contact person for communication regarding the application, any additional information needed, and the award notice if you are chosen as the winner of the award. This person has express permission to act as the point of contact for the institution.)

Phone of the preparer *

Exhibit name *

(Include title of the exhibit as used for any media purposes.)

When did the exhibit open to the public? *

Note: An eligible exhibit must have opened between January 1, 2025 and the June 30, 2026

Species displayed in the exhibit. *

(Include common and scientific name, number of each species, and the capacity that the exhibit may hold.)

Are you participating in a ZAA Animal Management Program (AMP) or development of a ZAA husbandry manual for this (the exhibit) species? *

Yes

Describe the funding techniques toward developing the exhibit. *

(Example: Capital improvement budget, non-profit fundraising, sponsorship, bond authorization, etc.)

Construction cost per square foot of exhibit. *

(Include budgeted estimate and final estimate.)

Development and construction format. *

(Example: in-house, contracted, etc.)

SUMMARY-Be as complete and descriptive as possible to improve chances for committee approval!

Write a brief, one-page exhibit summary that includes the following information, as applicable:

Innovative techniques or materials used
Behavioral enrichment details
Animal welfare improvements
Safety aspects of the exhibit for the staff and the public
Landscape improvements
Graphics or educational concepts developed for the exhibit
Green or sustainable inclusions in your design
Positive results achieved because of the new exhibit (Example: if were you able to achieve or improve on your animal welfare, safety, or behavior enrichment goals for the exhibit.)
What your target audience is

Insert summary below *

Exhibit effectiveness review format. *

(Example: in-house committee, public survey, facility survey, etc.)

Whom may we contact at the institution who will submit an article for the ZAA Journal? *

Attachments: IMPORTANT

*Required- a minimum of eight photographs ( in .PNG .jpg, or .pdf format) of the program. Make sure your pictures support a complete visual representation of your program and support your statements in the program summary.

Pictures of animal holding and staff areas for each exhibit *

PNG, JPEG, JPG or PDF ( max 30 Files )

Graphics for the exhibit *

PDF, JPEG, JPG or PNG ( max 30 Files )

Facility Logo ( .PNG .pdf, or ,jpg) for use in award presentation *

PDF, PNG, JPEG or JPG ( max 5 Files )

Optional: Support Document

PDF, DOC/DOCX, XLS/CSV, JPG/JPEG, PNG, GIF ( max 10 Files )