'Tree lobsters': Insects believed to be extinct go on display at San Diego Zoo

After conservation efforts that lasted for more than a decade, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance is finally bringing the critically endangered Lord Howe Island stick insects to the forefront. Visitors to the San Diego Zoo will have the opportunity to see these rare, nocturnal insects in a specialized habitat at the zoo’s Wildlife Explorers Basecamp for the first time in North America, the SD Zoo Alliance announced in a news release. The San Diego Zoo is one of only two zoos outside of Australia and the only zoo in North America to work with this species.

“We are honored to partner with Zoos Victoria on the conservation of the Lord Howe Island stick insect and beyond thrilled to be finally able to share these animals with our guests,” Paige Howorth, director of invertebrate care and conservation, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, said in a statement. The zoo's entomology team had collaborated with Australia’s Melbourne Zoo to maintain populations of the critically endangered insect.

Howorth added that the Alliance "is committed to invertebrate conservation, and bringing our guests close to this rare and iconic species is a great way to raise awareness for the lesser-known animals that run the world."

Lord Howe Island Stick Insects

Native to the Lord Howe Island Group, a cluster of volcanic islands in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand from where they get the name, the Lord Howe Island stick insect is a large, flightless, nocturnal insect that can grow up to 6 inches in length when fully mature.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/tree-lobsters-insects-believed-extinct-171544736.html