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Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society

S AV I N G W I L D L I F E I N W I L D P L A C E S

January 26, 2024

Journey to Africa Gala

Starter

Tower of Fresh Lump Crab Marinated Cucumber Heirloom Tomato Avocado Microgreens Main

Pesto-Crusted Rack of Lamb Port Wine Reduction Carrot-Ginger Puree Roasted Asparagus Brussels Sprouts Dessert

Warm Chocolate Lava Cake Vanilla Ice Cream Smithsonian-Certified Bird Friendly® Coffee

WELCOME TO PALM BEACH ZOO

Journey to Africa Gala Friends, World-Changers and Wildlife Lovers, Welcome to the Journey to Africa Gala at Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society. We are delighted you can join us tonight to celebrate our fabulous Zoo. Thank you for supporting our community’s tropical treasure: Palm Beach Zoo. Thomas C. Quick & Michele Kessler Honorary Chairmen

Deborah Dauman Chair

Hilary Geary Ross Chair Credit: CAPEHART

Tonight is more than an event. It is a difference-making, wildlife-saving evening that will elevate our Zoo to its true next level. We are bringing Africa to Palm Beach. Our community will be able to experience the awe and wonder of sharing space with majestic giraffes, powerful cheetahs, charismatic lemurs and more. Palm Beach Zoo is dedicated to the profound human-nature connection with iconic animals that inspire us to preserve our planet’s most threatened species. The dynamic and breathtaking Africa expansion will create deeper transformative connections, eliciting understanding and empathy for wildlife and motivating tangible action to save it. With your support, Africa at Palm Beach Zoo will make a lasting impact on our community and the world we share. Your presence tonight has the power to save wildlife. We look forward to a WILD evening at our Zoo.

DEBOR AH DAUMAN & HIL ARY GE ARY ROSS CHAIRS

MICHELE KE SSLER & THOMA S C. QUICK HONOR ARY CHAIRMEN

Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society

Board of Directors Executive Committee

Michele Kessler, Chairman Luis J. Fernandez, Vice Chairman Gary E. Krieger, Treasurer Dr. Daniel J. Comerford III, Secretary Jonathan Clay Maura Ziska Christu Guillermo Perez-Vargas Mitchell Quain Matt Valle Members

Marilyn Beuttenmuller, Esq. Whitney Wood Bylin Julia B. Connors Dale Coudert Deborah Dauman Caroline Dean Robert B. Dunkin II

Mei Sze Greene Susanna P. Hager Josh McGraw George F. Merck Carole Moran Stephen E. Myers Thomas C. Quick

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

President & Chief Executive Officer Margo McKnight Chief Financial Officer Kathleen Breland, CPA Chief Development Officer Lisa H. Loomis Chief Operating & Security Officer Casey Coy Chief Animal Conservation Officer Renée Bumpus 4

Living our

Wildlife-Saving Mission Every Zoo visit, event and membership saves wildlife in wild places. The Zoo’s animals and staff empower everyone to reduce threats to wild animals through simple actions that can be taken in everyday life. From the elimination of single-use plastic water bottles and straws to protect animals like wild river otters to Smithsonian-certified Bird Friendly® coffee served with dessert that is grown in a way that preserves habitat for wild birds, Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society is living our wildlife-saving mission at this Gala and beyond.

More “Awe” Please

Margo McKnight, President & CEO

hank you for joining us for our 2024 Gala! Some things simply require your presence.

“Being there” can fire-up all of your senses. It is why people love to attend games, concerts and their children’s performances. It is why you have attended this Gala. It is why we go to the beach and look forward to being in the company of those we love. Scientists have been studying many aspects of how experiences shape who we are. One such emotion is the feeling of “awe.” Most often attributed to experiences in nature, awe is the positive response to an exceptional stimulus outside of your normal frame of reference. I love awe. Considered a transcendent emotion, awe creates powerful

positive effects on your selfawareness. It increases prosocial behaviors, such as altruism, cooperation and caregiving. Your perception of time can even shift. People experiencing awe report feeling “rich with time” and more giving of their time to others. Being in awe shifts a person’s focus from having things to having more experiences. Awe increases your humility and how satisfied you are with your life. More awe please! Sharing the shade of an acacia tree with an 18-foot-tall giraffe will elicit awe. I guarantee it. From childhood, we know that giraffes exist. They are tall with a crazy patterned coat. They live in Africa. We can watch them on television and search for them online, or we can flip through a book to see and learn about them. To truly experience the “giraffe awe,” you must see one in-person.

ecently, I had the good fortune of experiencing this in Botswana with Michele Kessler (our marvelous board chairman) and some of her good friends (Dan Ponton, Stephane Castoriano, Patty Garvy and Kathleen Breland). Luckily, two of the camps where we stayed had healthy populations of giraffes. They frequently graced our path. In particular, two young male giraffes captivated our attention for quite a span of time, which is tough to do given the other distractions of lions, leopards and elephants. These youngsters, already 15 to 16 feet tall, were wrestling. Yes, giraffes wrestle. This giraffe game consisted of aligning their necks and chests to each other before pushing, entwining, untangling and starting again all in a slow-motion dance. These boys clearly knew each other and most likely grew up in the same herd. When they were younger, they most likely played together in a nursery herd, or creche, under the watchful eye of one adult female that allowed the other moms to forage farther away. Although the wrestling would escalate at times, it was mostly charmingly gentle and affectionate. They were teaching each other sparring tactics (such as leverage and proximity) Neck-and-neck that they would need giraffe wrestling as they become full adults competing for dominance in breeding. Eventually, they tired of their game. We carried on, but not before we all literally (and aloud) said “goodbye” to the giraffes. 7

More “Awe” Please continued

Returning home to Florida with the awe of Africa stirring within, our excitement is ignited for the next phase of Palm Beach Zoo — the Africa expansion. When we open Africa at Palm Beach Zoo, we will be ratcheting up the awe with giraffes and cheetahs: two of the most charismatic animals on the planet. We will create inspiring spaces to magnify the connection between our visitors and servals, lemurs, Aldabra tortoises, southern ground hornbills, African crested porcupines and warthogs. Awe of these creatures moves guests to action to ensure they thrive in wild places. We humans need ecosystems that function for people to thrive.

Our future outdoor “classrooms” are designed to get people up-close and personal with the animals. Providing guests with intimate animal experiences will transform their worldviews.

WELCOME TO AFRICA!

Your support will help build Palm Beach Zoo’s largest expansion ever: Africa.

Ecosystems harbor a variety of species and animals.

More “Awe” Please

continued

e love giraffes for just being … well, just for being giraffes. We also value them as a vital part of an ancient ecosystem that depends upon all of its parts to function. Giraffes and trees, especially acacia trees, have evolved together on the savannas of Africa. Giraffes feed much higher than any other antelope or gazelle. They act as enormous pruning shears, opening the canopy to sunlight for plants below. They disperse seeds out of reach of other species and act as the world’s largest pollinators. Giraffes are quite massive. They can weigh up to 4,000 pounds and used to gather in herds of up to 35-40 animals. That is a lot of seed-dispersing, pollinating and gardening. Let’s not forget that they provide large volumes of sustenance for the great predators that share this habitat. Savannas need giraffes. We need giraffes. Our Zoo has begun supporting important giraffe conservation efforts. It is impactful because, as so often happens, it is spearheaded by the perfect person for the job: Dr. Abdullahi Ali. Dr. Ali received his PhD in ecology from the University of Wyoming. He took what he learned back to the Kenyan community where he was born.

Dr. Ali has been applying the science he learned in the U.S. to help his community in Kenya by saving the ecosystem upon which he, his community and the animals depend. One of the charismatic and problematic species is giraffes. Can you imagine being a farmer with giraffes as neighbors? Scarecrows are not effective. One of the important roles for Dr. Ali and his team is to find creative ways for the human community and wildlife to not just coexist but to also thrive. Reticulated giraffes are now only found in small numbers in northern Kenya, and they are considered one of the most vulnerable giraffe populations. Habitat loss (specifically due to fragmentation) and poaching contribute to its precipitous decline. Dr. Ali is tackling these issues by starting with the community where he grew up. Most giraffes live in community lands without formal protection, despite being very vulnerable. In addition to human development, the changing weather patterns have exacerbated the dry season. This requires augmenting both feed and water for some of the populations of giraffes. The future of these animals depends upon the community for protection, and the community depends upon giraffes as a bellwether of a 11

More “Awe” Please continued

healthy ecosystem. Tackling the threats at hand to ensure a future exists requires Dr. Ali to work with both the agricultural part of the society and the next generation: the children. The habitat supporting the vulnerable giraffes is also home to cheetahs, southern ground hornbills, African crested porcupines, serval cats and warthogs. By ensuring the giraffe population has connected healthy habitats, the giraffes become an umbrella for these species and many more. If Dr. Ali is successful in his community, it will have wide application for others to adopt.

Creating safe ways for giraffes to cross roads is one of Dr. Ali’s challenges.

Intimate animal experiences transform guests into nature-loving citizens.

alm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society is bringing more awe of wildlife than ever to Palm Beach. In turn, it will create a more supportive, giving, satisfied community that focuses on experiences and positive emotions. These positive feelings of being connected to nature will move us to protect it. In the end, we depend upon understanding the importance of ensuring that intact ecosystems are truly saving wildlife as well as our own lives. We thank you for supporting your Zoo and helping to bring Africa with all of her awe to Palm Beach.

See how far your impact can go. Please contact Lisa H. Loomis, Chief Development Officer, at (561) 533-0887 x444 or VIP@palmbeachzoo.org.

WE EXTEND A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO

Our Sponsors WILD THING

Deborah & Philippe Dauman • Michele & Howard Kessler KING OF THE JUNGLE

Eileen & Jack Connors • Lillian & Luis Fernandez Judy & Leonard Lauder • The Honorable Wilbur L. Ross and Mrs. Ross GOLD

H.E. Ambassador Meshal & Mrs. Al-Thani James R. Borynack & Adolfo Zaralegui | Findlay Galleries Florida Crystals • Point Gammon Foundation Thomas C. Quick Charitable Foundation Amanda & Charles Schumacher SILVER

Grace Bender • Valerie & Harry Cooper Caroline & Thompson Dean • Chip DiPaula • Lora & Fred Drasner Florida Power & Light Company • HollyJolly Foundation Ann & Charles B. Johnson • Carole Moran PCL Construction Services, Inc. • Mitch Quain • Sandra Rooney Leslie & Thomas Rosin • Alison Holtzschue & Douglas Schloss BRONZE

Frances G. Scaife Private Foundation • JPMorgan Chase & Co. Martha Kessler† • Lynne Wheat & Thomas Peterffy Pauline Pitt • The Polk Wealth Management Group at Morgan Stanley Diane & John Sculley COPPER

Cynthia & Theodore S. Berenson • The Otis Booth Foundation Susan & Christopher Cowie • Kaaren & Charles Hale Helena & Roman Martinez IV • Laetitia & Laurie Oppenheim Michelle & Christian Searcy • Mally & David Skok Robyn & Len Tannenbaum † Deceased Sponsors and Underwriters as of January 15, 2024.

WE EXTEND A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO

Our Underwriters DINNER

The Park Foundation WINE

Suzanne & Ambassador Robert W. Johnson INVITATION

JoAnna & Stephen Myers • Alice & James Ross COCKTAIL HOUR

Ruth Baum • Wendy & Paul E. Raether Ross Family Charitable Fund • Betsy & Paul Shiverick PROGRAM

Dooley Family Foundation • Audrey & Martin Gruss Vicky & Sam Hunt • James L. & Margo M. Nederlander VALET & VIP TOUR

Anonymous • Emilia & J. Pepe Fanjul Antoinette Guerrini-Maraldi & Hans Kertess Nataly & Ernst Langner • Sondra & David S. Mack Sallie B. Phillips • Monika & John W.S. Preston Mrs. Thomas A. Saunders III • Carla & Terry Taylor Deborah Norville & Karl Wellner • Susan & Bob Wright CONSERVATION

Robert B. Dunkin II • Laetitia & Laurie Oppenheim Matthew W. Wyatt

Saving Wildlife in Wild Places

Your Zoo’s Global Conservation Initiatives

Many animals would be extinct in the wild if it were not for zoos. Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society saves animals in the wild locally and globally. Our ultimate goal is to be joined by our community in protecting wildlife in wild places. We empower our audiences to take wildlife-saving actions that can reduce the threats animals face in the wild. Thank you for helping us protect wildlife for generations to come.

Helping Jaguars and Humans Thrive

Palm Beach Zoo is partnering with Belizean conservationists at Belize Zoo to provide equipment and supplies that ensure safe solutions and education for people living around jaguars in the wild. These beautiful animals in Belize face many of the same threats as Florida panthers at home. Conservationists need to find ways to ensure humans and wildlife can live and thrive in the same landscape. The Zoo also supports planning for wildlife road-mortality prevention, which includes designing safe road-crossing options for jaguars and other wildlife in Belize.

TRACKING GIRAFFE MOVEMENTS

Palm Beach Zoo partners with the Somali Giraffe Project in Kenya, Africa, to satellite tail-tag reticulated giraffes to understand their movements and interactions with human populations. This community-based project led by local Kenyan Dr. Abdullahi Ali, focuses on conservation, research and education. The Zoo provided satellite tracking devices for 20 giraffes, and the data collected will inform future conservation strategies for giraffes and other species. Every Zoo visit or membership helps save wild giraffes and other species found in Africa.

SAVING FLORIDA WILDLIFE

Credit: Carlton Ward Jr.

Palm Beach Zoo staff assisted Carlton Ward Jr., founder of the Florida Wildlife Corridor program, in installing trail cameras to track the movements of wild panthers. Findings highlighted the need for land connectivity throughout the state. This essential work led to the unanimous passing of the Florida Wildlife Corridor Act in 2021, providing incentives and formal designation for the statewide corridor. A statewide system for the endangered Florida panther simultaneously creates safe passage for black bears, white-tailed deer, otters and other wildlife.

Tracking Raptors in the Wild

Palm Beach Zoo is helping to save wild birds of prey. Zoo staff assists with fitting tracking devices on swallow-tailed and snail kites in the wild. The data collected from the tracking devices informs future protection planning for kites and other wild birds. Kites represent critical habitats throughout Palm Beach County and South Florida. These “umbrella” species tell a story of the health of the rest of the natural areas in which they reside. Understanding kites’ habits ensures their future and the future of other plant and animal species.

DIVING DEEP TO SAVE OCEAN WILDLIFE

Palm Beach Zoo’s scientific dive team monitors Florida’s coral reefs for disease outbreaks and deploys treatments locally. Partnering with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the dive team conducts surveys to locate coral reef ecosystems. They provide information to state and federal agencies on coral diversity, health and disturbance that inform protection strategies. Every Zoo visit or membership 17 saves wildlife above and below the ocean’s surface.

2024

LI V E AUCTION

A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE (800-435-7352) WITHIN THE STATE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE. REGISTRATION #CH970