In recent years, cattle ranching and encroachment by man have devastated habitat across the home range for the Masked Bobwhite Quail in southern Arizona and northern Mexico. No more than 600 of these desert-loving birds remain in the wild today. The Cincinnati Zoo is partnering with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in working to block their steady march toward extinction. The only satellite colony of Masked Bobwhite Quail in captivity resides here at the Cincinnati Zoo. If catastrophe should happen to strike the western population this small flock of birds would be the specie’s one and only last hope for survival. In lieu of such an event, the birds live as a “living laboratory”, with the zoo’s aviculture staff studying their diet, physiology and breeding behavior and working to unravel the quail’s complex social structure. Hopefully, with knowledge gained from this research offspring from the zoo’s flock will help to reestablish the Masked Bobwhite Quail across its home range.