The evening, hosted by Mary Baker, Lourdes Fanjul, Susanna Hager, and Samantha Storkerson was planned perfectly to include cocktails, a moving feast, and dancing under the stars. Zoo board members Whitney Bylin and Thomas C. Quick served as Event Committee Chairs.
While mingling in the shadows of two 45’ tall Mayan pyramid replicas and under the steady gaze of jaguar and alligators, zoo guests savored delectable food items provided by some of the most outstanding restaurants in the local area. Culinary highlights included Bang Bang Shrimp from Bonefish Grill, baby lamp chops from Outback Steakhouse, a sushi boat from Echo, hand carved prosciutto from Café Sapori, Korean shortrib tacos from būccan, polpette meatballs and rock shrimp ceviché from Nick and Johnnie’s & Cucina Dell Arte, and vanilla panna cotta from Carrabba’s. The Palm Beach Zoo’s Tropics Café provided more food for the guests who danced late into the evening with its signature slider and mini-hot dog bar.
Throughout the night, guests were treated to specialty tropical rum cocktails created by Bacardi USA specifically for the event. The “Bacardi Zoo Rock” and the “Bacardi 8 Safari Sipper” were served by two world famous Bacardi Girls. Bacardi USA also donated several bartenders and product to stock all five of the full bars.
Zoo keepers accompanied by a selection of animals welcomed guests to the Mayan Plaza and treated anyone who wanted to see more to behind-the-scenes tours. On these tours, guests came face to face with nine-year-old black bear brothers, Lewis and Clarke as well as the Zoo’s four jaguars: Maya, her parents Nabalam and Muchacho, and her older sister, Izel. Muchacho’s painting talents were highlighted when one of his original pieces of artwork was raffled off at the close of the evening.
Major sponsors of the event included Thomas C. Quick, Susanna & Louis Hager, Florida Crystals, Bill & Candy Hamm, Mark & Mary Freitas, Pepe & Lourdes Fanjul, Tim & Christie Gannon, Lucy Musso, plus the many restaurants and Bacardi USA who helped to make the event a terrific fundraiser. Raffle items were generously donated by Valentino, House of Lavande, Lori Jayne Monogramming, Michael Kors – Worth Avenue, the Beauté Therapies, Palm Beach Grill, Trillion, and more. All proceeds from “Do at the Zoo” will help the zoo advance its mission to protect wildlife and wildlife habitat and to inspire others to value and conserve the natural world.
In addition to the success of the “Do at the Zoo"; Palm Beach Zoo Officials are happy to report that the tiger collection grew significantly in the wee hours of Thursday and Friday, May 12 and 13 with Berapi, a female Malayan tiger, giving birth to three healthy cubs.
The zoo, which sits at 1301 Summit Blvd., in West Palm Beach, is planning a new tiger exhibit in which a portion of the proceeds from the various zoo fundraisers goes towards. The family of five is expected to live at the new exhibit for the next two or three years, when the cubs will be old enough to move to another zoo. Berapi arrived in November as a potential love match for Rhimba, a long-time resident of the zoo. Malayan tigers are named for their home on the Malayan Peninsula. They are among the smallest of the tiger species. Estimates of how many Malayan tigers live in the wild vary, but there may be as few as 500, according to experts.
If you would like more information on this topic or to schedule an interview, please call Linda Soper at (561) 835-9057 or email: linda@lindalanemarketing.com.
###
Photo by Lucien Capehart Photography, Inc
Luis Fernandez, Lourdes Fanjul, Samantha Storkerson, Whitney Bylin, Susanna Hager, Mary Baker and Tom Quick
No comments:
Post a Comment