The organization's mission is to save species worldwide by uniting their expertise in animal care and conservation science with their dedication to inspiring passion for nature.

The organization and its institutions are accredited by the AZA and the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), and have received many awards for their habitats, breeding programs, and wildlife conservation efforts.

[7]Later that month,[I] in an article in the San Diego Union, the brothers announced a call for interested parties to join them in forming a society to develop and support a zoological garden.

Baker, Thompson, Gregg, and Archie Talboy in this city and county, who are interested in the study of animal life and it is proposed to combine them in a nucleus which will later be developed into an efficient organization.

Baker and Thompson responded, and helped convince naturalist Frank Stephens, a member of the board of directors of the Natural History Society, to join as well.

[6][11] Other early animals acquired by or donated to the Zoo included a badger, two lynxes, a gray fox, a coyote, two golden eagles, two rails, a whip snake, and a white goose.

[9] I cannot remember a time in the early days of the Zoo when we were not in financial straits, and every so often these reached hazardous peaks [...] It was only by a sort of careful prestidigitation that we could meet our maintenance costs, and there was little or nothing left for the purchase of animals.

[6][21] The resulting design, a grotto with the floor built up to place the animals at eye level with visitors, separated from them by a moat and a low wall, became a prototype for many of the Zoo's early exhibits.

[9][23] A formal dedication of the property was held, and much of 1922 was spent hiring staff, building exhibits and pools, and acquiring new animals, including the first live Guadalupe fur seals to be brought into the United States.

[9] Plans were made for a site on San Diego Bay at the Marina, with the ship to be set in concrete in the midst of a seal pool adjacent to a raised-relief map of California and a series of aquariums.

[35] Donations were promised to fund the project, but the society could not reach an agreement with city officials on a suitable location; the Star of India eventually became part of the Maritime Museum of San Diego.

[39] The issues were raised again in 1927 as three propositions: one for the tax, one for permanent granting of the grounds, and another asking that jurisdiction of the land be transferred from the Board of Park Commissioners to the Zoological Society; all three passed, but were not implemented because they had not been published within the requisite number of days prior to the election.

[39] In 1934 the society made a concerted effort to pass the tax amendment, using Zoonooz to promote their cause, having Benchley present their case at over 200 meetings, and circulating a petition to put the proposition on the ballot.

[42] "That the Zoo survived the first, hysterical months after Pearl Harbor—economically and personnel-wise—was due to careful planning and organization and strong leadership", wrote San Diego author and journalist Neil Morgan.

"[42] Though attendance at the Zoo dropped after the outbreak of the war, it rose dramatically through the rest of the decade, averaging 500,000–600,000 visitors annually as San Diego's population boomed due to the presence of many military installations and defense manufacturers, and topping 800,000 by 1948.

[9] Eighteen southern white rhinoceros, eight born at the San Diego Zoo and ten purchased through Ian Player, chief conservator of the Republic of South Africa, were added to the park in February 1971, as were thirty ostriches donated by the president of a local car dealership.

[9][50] As with the San Diego Zoo, admission to the Wild Animal Park was free to Zoological Society members and to children 15 years and younger.

[52] He organized the committee to prepare a white paper describing the need for in-house research to examine the problems of breeding and sustaining endangered species populations in managed care.

[9] The following year, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance added twelve post-doctoral fellowships and hosted an international conference on "Genetic Resources for the New Century".

[9] Also in 2000 the society received a $7.5 million grant, the largest in its history, from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation to build a new conservation science complex on the Wild Animal Park property.

[9][58] "Because the [conservation science] staff and projects have increased significantly since the [department] was founded 25 years ago, we desperately need new research facilities", said Benirschke, who was then president of the Zoological Society.

"The generous Beckman Foundation grant is an incredible beginning to building our new facility and will enable us to continue leading the world in research and wildlife conservation efforts.

In 2003, skin cells from the organization's Wildlife Biodiversity Bank were used to clone a healthy male banteng (the animal went to live at the San Diego Zoo the following year).

[9][55] In 2005 the conservation scientists successfully cultured cells of the poʻouli, a critically endangered and possibly extinct Hawaiian bird, for storage in the Wildlife Biodiversity Bank.

[60] Hiring Jump Associates, a consulting firm, the society sought to identify new revenue streams to fund its conservation efforts, and to develop a sustainable growth strategy.

[60] The society also expanded its consulting business, partnering with the Al Ain Zoo and Aquarium Public Institution to assist in the creation of a 2,000-acre wildlife park in Abu Dhabi, and started using its facilities to showcase sustainable products and technologies to visitors.

"[61] One of the Conservancy's first initiatives was a partnership with Nature and Culture International, begun in 2011, to assume operation of the Cocha Cashu Biological Station in Peru's Manu National Park.

[63] The rebrand coincided with a new visual identity that incorporated three animals that represent the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance century-long conservation efforts: the lion, the California condor and the white rhino.

[68] For the 2022 fiscal year (the most recent period examined), Charity Navigator gave the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance a score of 100 out of 100 for 'Accountability & Finance', reporting the organization's total revenues at $392,443,880 and its expenses at $352,421,424, resulting in an excess of $40,022,456.

[73] In 1971 the society established a set of criteria for selecting recipients, declaring that the medals should be awarded to "individuals who, through research and publication, have furthered knowledge of the habits and habitats of wildlife, [...] who have been active in the preservation of endangered and other species of animals through breeding programs, research, and the establishment of game and wildlife preserves, [... and] who have furthered the cause of conservation through continued financial support and through their influence and publicity.