July 21, 2006 - Aquarium Welcomes Australian Wildlife Expert Dion Wedd

Northern Territory and Aquarium Signed Conservation MOU on July 21

Baltimore (July 21, 2006) — Dion Wedd, curator of life sciences and land management at the Territory Wildlife Park (TWP) in Australia’s Northern Territory, is visiting the National Aquarium in Baltimore to see the result of collaborating on animal and plant selections, and today signed an official Memorandum of Understanding between the Northern Territory Government and the Aquarium.

A published expert on nursery fishes, Wedd and colleagues at TWP worked closely with Aquarium exhibit and animal experts throughout the planning and acquisition process to recommend the appropriate wildlife and vegetation to include in Animal Planet Australia: Wild Extremes. The exhibit, which interprets a river gorge in northern Australia, opened in December 2005 and highlights a variety of flora, fauna and wildlife from the extreme conditions in the Northern Territory’s Top End.

On July 21, Wedd signed a Memorandum of Understanding between Australia’s Northern Territory government and the National Aquarium in Baltimore that establishes a Sister Institution partnership. This partnership also establishes a wildlife conservation project in Northern Territory, and includes opportunities for two-way transfer of knowledge through staff swaps and agreements on acquiring additional animal specimens.

The TWP and Northern Territory government have supported the Aquarium’s development this exhibit in many ways, from inspection trips to navigating the permitting process needed to acquire the animals, to providing cultural counsel. As a result, Animal Planet Australia is the only place in North America to have many of these animals.

The National Aquarium in Baltimore, a non-profit organization, is Baltimore’s leading attraction, hosting more than 1.6 million visitors per year. The Aquarium’s mission is to connect people with aquatic life in order to create a better world for both. It is dedicated to education and conservation through more than a dozen programs that serve the environment and the community.