Since first opening its gates more than 40 years ago, SeaWorld San Diego has allowed visitors to experience an incredible array of wildlife and learn unforgettable lessons about the importance of wildlife and habitat conservation, animal care, education and research.

SeaWorld and Busch Gardens parks have been consistently recognized for their groundbreaking efforts to breed endangered species and promote conservation of wildlife and the environment. They also collaborate with international conservation organizations to protect threatened habitats around the world. Here are just a few of the company’s recent accomplishments:

Breeding Successes
The park's renowned breeding program saw continued success last year with the birth and hatching of dozens of animals, including Magellanic penguins, Caribbean flamingos and an endangered hooded crane. The most significant birth in 2004, however, came December 21 when the park welcomed its fifth baby killer whale. The newborn, a female, marks the 19th successful killer whale birth among the SeaWorld parks.

Conservation Practices
The SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund allows visitors to the nine Anheuser-Busch Adventure Parks, as well as members of the general public, to supplement the more than $2.5 million the company currently earmarks for various conservation programs. Contributions benefit the parks' efforts to preserve endangered wildlife; expand conservation education around the globe; support worthy conservation and research organizations worldwide; and to aid ill, orphaned, injured or stranded animals. At all three SeaWorld parks, guests can contribute by taking the Saving-A-Species Tour, where a portion of the fee goes to the Fund. They also can contribute by purchasing select park merchandise where 15 percent of the proceeds go to the Fund or by visiting the organization’s Web site, www.swbg-conservationfund.org.

Since establishment in 2003, the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund has awarded 47 grants to conservation organizations, totaling more than a half a million dollars. Projects include the "Falkland Islands Penguin Census 2005/2006" (Falklands Conservation), "Orangutan Care and Quarantine Center" (Orangutan Foundation International) and the "Shark Conservation Program" (WildAid).

In addition to its animal care efforts, SeaWorld and its parent company, Anheuser-Busch, are dedicated to the environment and the conservation of natural resources. SeaWorld integrates conservation practices throughout its operation. The park voluntarily implements programs recognized by the Environmental Protection Agency as the most acceptable management techniques for handling storm-water runoff and other environmental issues. An 11-time recipient of the prestigious State of California Waste Reduction Awards Program recycling honor, SeaWorld recycles asphalt, tires, scrap metal, pre-consumer fruits and vegetables, cooking oil, Clydesdale manure, landscaping green waste, batteries and concrete in addition to more traditional recyclable materials. In 2004 alone, SeaWorld San Diego recycled more than two million pounds of manure, paper products, metals and other materials and more than six million pounds of concrete, asphalt and other construction materials. Last year, the city of San Diego honored SeaWorld with its Director's Award for the park's recycling and waste reduction program. Since 1996, the park has received the city's Recycler of the Year award eight times. Excellence in recycling is just one component of SeaWorld's comprehensive environmental program, which ranges from employee awareness, education and energy efficiency to seeking out recycled products for purchase and use in the park.

The following programs illustrate additional ways the park shares its conservation commitment with the world:

Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute (HSWRI)
In October 2004, Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute, in collaboration with the California Department of Fish and Game and the California sport fishing community, released the one-millionth tagged white sea bass from the Leon Raymond Hubbard, Jr. Marine Fish Hatchery in Carlsbad, California. The Ocean Resources Enhancement and Hatchery Program - designed to counteract the alarming decline of marine fish stocks - is the largest marine fish enhancement program in the nation. The program benefits the California fishery, the fishing community and the state's resource management agency by providing an environmentally-sound and economically-effective tool for sustaining and recovering depleted stocks.

Hubbs-SeaWorld also made great progress on another project that started in 2000 called the "Atlantic Leatherback Project". In partnership with the University of Central Florida, the project is a study of endangered Atlantic leatherback sea turtles, using satellite telemetry to study their inter-nesting movements and post-nesting migratory behavior. Between 2003 and 2004, the team was able to track 10 leatherbacks during a single season. The second milestone in the study is the reappearance and re-tagging of "China Girl", a female that returned to the nesting beaches of the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge. China Girl was outfitted with another satellite transmitter, giving the team an extremely rare opportunity: the ability to compare the behavior of the same animal during two successive post-nesting migration seasons.

Established in 1963, Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute, a public nonprofit research foundation, conducts scientific investigations on the world's living creatures and natural resources. Its mission encompasses bioacoustics, aquaculture, physiology, conservation and ecology studies with an emphasis on marine and coastal ecosystems. A long-time partner of SeaWorld, HSWRI provides scientific information that is invaluable to the development of appropriate environmental management decisions, conservation programs and the understanding and protection of our ocean resources. To learn more visit HSWRI's Web site at www.hswri.org.

SeaWorld Oiled Wildlife Care Center
The SeaWorld Oiled Wildlife Care Center is a collaborative operation run by the park's mammal and bird departments, along with the statewide Oiled Wildlife Care Network. The center, which opened in 2000, serves as an example of a private and public partnership dedicated to environmental stewardship. When not used for oil spill response, the 8,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art complex houses ill or injured animals in SeaWorld's Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Program.

In April 2004, SeaWorld participated in the largest multi-agency oil spill exercise in U.S. history: the SONS (Spill of National Significance) drill, which simulated the concurrent release of crude oil from a tanker explosion near Los Angeles and fuel oil from a vessel collision near San Diego. The drill prepared SeaWorld's response team for an actual oil spill that occurred in Los Angeles in January 2005, affecting more than 1,500 seabirds. The team put their skills to the test and successfully rehabilitated and released 15 endangered brown pelicans.

SeaWorld Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Program
Through the SeaWorld Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Program, thousands of animals have been rescued, treated, sheltered and rehabilitated. With an average 200 rescues per year, the animal rescue team successfully rehabilitates and returns nearly 65 percent of the animals to the wild. Marine species treated by the SeaWorld San Diego team include sea turtles, seabirds, whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions and sea otters.

In 2004, nearly 600 marine animals were rescued by SeaWorld's team of animal care experts (160 mammals, 438 birds and 1 reptile). Several amazing success stories stand out in 2004, including the rehabilitation and release of a Guadalupe fur seal, a threatened species. Another rescue that made national news was Tessa, a female Pacific walrus calf found beached in Barrow, Alaska last summer. After a week of care in Alaska, Tessa was transported to SeaWorld for long-term care. Tessa is doing extremely well and is interacting with SeaWorld's other walruses at the park's popular Wild Arctic attraction.

Anheuser-Busch Adventure Parks work with and support conservation organizations around the world that share its vision and commitment. Partners include the following organizations:

1. National Wildlife Federation
The Anheuser-Busch Adventure Parks are an official sponsor of the National Wildlife Federation's "Keep the Wild Alive" campaign. Through this campaign, park guests not only learn about some of the world's most critically endangered species, but they also discover ways to help protect wildlife and habitats in their own backyards.

2. The Nature Conservancy
SeaWorld and Discovery Cove participate in this group's "Rescue the Reef", a conservation program designed to protect and preserve coral reefs in the Caribbean and Florida Keys. In addition, SeaWorld continues to support The Nature Conservancy's land-acquisition and habitat-protection programs nationwide.

3. Conservation International
SeaWorld, Busch Gardens and Discovery Cove support Conservation International's work in Brazil's Cerrado and Pantanal regions. Home to a variety of rare mammals and birds, these rain forest ecosystems are under increasing threat from development.

4. World Wildlife Fund
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay works with and supports the World Wildlife Fund's rhino and tiger conservation efforts throughout Africa and Asia. Busch Gardens also participate in the black rhino Species Survival Plan, a collaborative effort among zoos to help preserve and protect endangered species for future generations.

SeaWorld Adventure Parks are in San Diego, Orlando, and San Antonio.  In addition to the SeaWorld Adventure Parks, St. Louis-based Busch Entertainment Corporation operates Busch Gardens in Tampa Bay, Florida and Williamsburg, Virginia; Adventure Island in Tampa Bay; Water Country USA in Williamsburg; Sesame Place near Philadelphia; and Discovery Cove in Orlando. The nine parks entertain more than 20 million guests a year and employ more than 15,000 people.

Leaders in conservation and education, SeaWorld, Busch Gardens and Discovery Cove care for the largest animal collection in the world and offer an education Web site especially for students and teachers at www.seaworld.org. Information on how to contribute to the SeaWorld-Busch Gardens Conservation Fund is at www.swbg-conservationfund.org. General park information is found at www.seaworld.com.