From Our President & CEO

Dear Wildlife Friends,

2020 revealed what is truly important to this Zoo – our community! While it was a very difficult year for everyone, you believed in us and came through for us. Your generosity not only helped us survive, but you lifted our spirits making it possible to actually thrive.

As we weathered the sea of uncertainty in 2020 and with our gates closed for 75 days, we learned to be resilient and adaptable. Our dedicated Board of Directors, generous donors and loyal friends continued to provide support while our tireless staff never wavered in world-class care for our animals and each other. We experienced togetherness though apart, heartbreak and loss and an emboldened commitment to conservation as we reimagined the future of our Zoo.

We emerge from this pandemic changed. We are stronger, smarter and more determined than ever to engage our visitors in the quest of saving wildlife in wild places. COVID taught us many things; the most obvious is how much we need to have real experiences in real places with real living beings! Our visitors are coming back to the Zoo in record numbers as it is revitalizing to be immersed in nature and inspired by wildlife. Imagine yourself on a path surrounded by nature. Sunlight warms your face and green fronds tickle your arms as you venture deeper into the jungle. The tropical air renews your peace of mind and provides a sultry setting for the animal whistles, chuffs, howls and squeaks – the real calls of the wild. Tiger cubs, siamang, howler monkey babies and young otters enjoy the very same habitat you journey through. That is our Zoo. That is you in our Zoo!

Outside the Zoo, we continued to focus on conservation of Florida species providing muscle and expertise on initiatives including deploying zoologists for the Path of the Panther, tracking swallow-tailed kites and the endangered snail kite, diving deep into coral reef rescue, breeding endangered Perdido Key beach mice for release and collecting data on local populations of frogs, which are great indicators of the quality of our environment.

As we focused on our mission of causing our guests to fall in love with nature while not faltering in our conservation efforts, we also kept a sharp eye on the Zoo’s financial health. We shed our debt, tightened our belt and are experiencing a record-breaking year.

We made it through a pandemic because you believe in us. We’ve navigated the storm and are now rebuilding in 2021. I promise it will be a new grand adventure, and we are grateful to have you alongside as supporters and friends of wildlife.

MARGO MCKNIGHT

PRESIDENT & CEO