An Audubon Nature Institute reproduction program has won the highest conservation honor awarded by the zoo profession's national accrediting organization for saving one species from almost certain extinction.  The Mississippi Sandhill Crane program utilizes high-tech assisted reproduction such as artificial insemination and cryopreservation to boost the dwindling population of the cranes.  The breeding program has produced as many as 20 chicks each year since 1995 via artificial insemination and costume-rearing. In addition, in 2007 and 2008 the program produced the first and second Mississippi sandhill crane chicks from cryobanked frozen/thawed semen.

Read one of the news stories about this amazing program: Audubon Nature Institute Reproduction Program Wins AZA Endangered Species Award