Saturday was the day of the California condor at the L.A. Zoo—or perhaps it would be more accurate to say it was the great bird's evening. At the 38th annual Beastly Ball, the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association's annual fund-raiser, officials honored two leaders of the California Condor Recovery Program: team leader Mike Wallace of the Zoological Society of San Diego and Jesse Grantham, coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The team—which includes the L.A. Zoo's condor staff—are saving the bird from extinction, having increased the once critically endangered population from 22 in 1982 to 332 at last count.
News like that is always welcome to the hordes of animal lovers who make this one of Los Angeles's most enduring fund-raising traditions. Since 1990, when Patti Glover, the zoo's director of special events and travel, ditched the conventional seated-dinner format, she has kept the crowds coming back for more with variations on a theme—a casual evening for supporters to stroll through the zoo with stops at bars and restaurant stations along the paths, culminating in an award ceremony and dancing. The seated dinners the zoo association used to host were in “an area in the zoo out of view of the animals,” says Glover, who organized her 23rd Beastly Ball this year. “There was no animal connection, and it was becoming boring. You have to shake it up, because repeat guests are coming and you have to make it fun for them.”This year, 900 guests paid $1,000 a head to descend on the zoo beginning at 6 p.m., dressed in casual and safari wear (and penciled-on cat whiskers, in the case of one enthusiastic supporter). Masanga Marimba—one of a half-dozen world-music bands performing throughout the zoo—greeted guests at the entrance. When guests checked in, they scooped up burlap tote bags for carrying an event map and program. They then hopped a tram to a drop-off point near the ring-tailed lemurs—not to mention two bars, the first of 13 located strategically to minimize lines.
Also along the zoo paths were booths manned by 18 area restaurants—including Pasadena's Green Street Restaurant and L.A.'s Pink's Famous Hot Dogs—and nine stations where zookeepers introduced visitors to such permanent residents as Grippy the great horned owl and Violet the hedgehog. Glover assigned blue market umbrellas to bars and burgundy ones for restaurant stations, so that guests could identify them at a distance.
By 8 p.m., staff had directed the crowd to the silent-auction area and then downstairs to the entry plaza, which was packed with tables covered with candy-colored crushed satin. Centerpieces were sunflowers in terra-cotta pots covered with branches, nests for the stuffed condor toys tucked among the blooms. Lining the perimeter were Renaissance Fine Catering's buffet tables, with plenty of food for the already sated guests—dinner crepes, Cobb salads, and bars for mashed potatoes, martinis, and margaritas. Noted animal lover Betty White hosted the brief award ceremony, and TV weatherman Fritz Coleman ran the live auction. Then guests danced to the Rik Howard Music band until they left at midnight, leaving behind $1.2 million for exhibits, wild animal conservation, and education programs.
News like that is always welcome to the hordes of animal lovers who make this one of Los Angeles's most enduring fund-raising traditions. Since 1990, when Patti Glover, the zoo's director of special events and travel, ditched the conventional seated-dinner format, she has kept the crowds coming back for more with variations on a theme—a casual evening for supporters to stroll through the zoo with stops at bars and restaurant stations along the paths, culminating in an award ceremony and dancing. The seated dinners the zoo association used to host were in “an area in the zoo out of view of the animals,” says Glover, who organized her 23rd Beastly Ball this year. “There was no animal connection, and it was becoming boring. You have to shake it up, because repeat guests are coming and you have to make it fun for them.”This year, 900 guests paid $1,000 a head to descend on the zoo beginning at 6 p.m., dressed in casual and safari wear (and penciled-on cat whiskers, in the case of one enthusiastic supporter). Masanga Marimba—one of a half-dozen world-music bands performing throughout the zoo—greeted guests at the entrance. When guests checked in, they scooped up burlap tote bags for carrying an event map and program. They then hopped a tram to a drop-off point near the ring-tailed lemurs—not to mention two bars, the first of 13 located strategically to minimize lines.
Also along the zoo paths were booths manned by 18 area restaurants—including Pasadena's Green Street Restaurant and L.A.'s Pink's Famous Hot Dogs—and nine stations where zookeepers introduced visitors to such permanent residents as Grippy the great horned owl and Violet the hedgehog. Glover assigned blue market umbrellas to bars and burgundy ones for restaurant stations, so that guests could identify them at a distance.
By 8 p.m., staff had directed the crowd to the silent-auction area and then downstairs to the entry plaza, which was packed with tables covered with candy-colored crushed satin. Centerpieces were sunflowers in terra-cotta pots covered with branches, nests for the stuffed condor toys tucked among the blooms. Lining the perimeter were Renaissance Fine Catering's buffet tables, with plenty of food for the already sated guests—dinner crepes, Cobb salads, and bars for mashed potatoes, martinis, and margaritas. Noted animal lover Betty White hosted the brief award ceremony, and TV weatherman Fritz Coleman ran the live auction. Then guests danced to the Rik Howard Music band until they left at midnight, leaving behind $1.2 million for exhibits, wild animal conservation, and education programs.