PHOTO BY MATT NAGLE

The Emerald Queen I-5 Showroom was all decked out in a lush jungle theme for the Point Defiance Zoo Society’s afternoon tea and fashion show fundraiser.

Historic gift elicits howls of thanks at fundraiser

By Matt Nagle

It was an afternoon of formal dress and delightfully informal entertainment April 26 for the Point Defiance Zoo Society’s annual fashion tea fundraiser at the Emerald Queen Casino (EQC) I-5 showroom. By all accounts the event was a complete success. While the final tally of money raised was still being calculated at press time, Meleena Russell, events manager for the society, said it looks like this year’s event raised even more than last year, which will help the society’s ongoing support of the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium’s (PDZA) programs and mission.

Meleena Russell said the event was made even more fabulous thanks to in-kind donations from the EQC. Impressive decorations, the sound system, lighting, audio-visual components including a big screen monitor, and the trained personnel to run all the equipment were provided by the casino.

The audience literally howled in appreciation for the Puyallup Tribe when Caryl Zenker, the zoo society’s deputy director, announced the Tribe’s recent gift to the society's capital campaign, $685,000 over the next five years, the largest in the zoo's history according to Zenker. The zoo will have to  reapply to receive  $137,000 each year. Zenker led the crowd in a wolf howl to show its thanks. She called the Tribe’s gift “an absolutely historic occasion and a terrific partnership.”

The bulk of the funds have been earmarked as the naming gift for the zoo’s upcoming new red wolf exhibit. Some preliminary designs for the exhibit have been completed. “This contribution will allow us to move forward with the process,” Caryl Zenker said.

The balance will be for the presenting sponsorship for Zoobilee, the zoo’s black tie fundraising gala, for the next five years.

Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium is leading the charge nationwide to restore the endangered red wolf to a healthy population and has achieved the most successful wildlife conservation story in North American history. In the past, the species covered approximately one-third of the United States and numbered in the thousands. When that count dropped to a mere 14 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service asked for help and the zoo stepped up to establish and develop the red wolf breeding program.

Now, more than 34 years later, the zoo’s leadership has increased the red wolf population to a more robust 275. Over the years the program has produced nearly 1,500 red wolves. A reintroduced wild population of red wolves now lives in its native range in North Carolina. Last summer the zoo was awarded the American Zoological Association’s top conservation award for its work.

Now that the red wolf is coming back, the zoo needs to update the animals’ home, which still consists of the outdated chain link fence enclosure built in the early 1970s. The new exhibit will be built into a hillside and make use of natural features to provide visitors with unobstructed views. The wolves will have the pleasure of warming themselves on sunlit rocks and caring for their pups in dens equipped with cameras so visitors can monitor the wolves’ nurturing behavior up close.

Fundraising for the red wolf is just part of a larger campaign the zoo society has undertaken called the Vision for the Future Capital Campaign. The target is $7.15 million and includes several projects: the red wolf, cats of the canopy, a permanent endowment, and Animal Avenue, which opens May 31.

The highlight of the fashion tea fundraiser was the fashion show featuring the latest in formal and active wear by South Sound clothiers Adam and Eve Clothing, Bloom, Brides by Demitrius, Cake Apparel, Dame Lola, Grassis, Hush Baby, Julia Ellen, Red Line, Rocky and Coco’s, Ruth Ellen Designs, Sonja Clothing, The Wedding Bell, Tiki Lounge, Tux Shop, Vanity, Viva, Top Hat Formal Wear, Destination Harley, Nordstrom, Envy, My Petit Pea and Biella by Ruth Michelle. Set among the lush décor of tropical plants, ferns and palm trees that transformed the EQC’s grand showroom into a very well done jungle landscape, the volunteer male and female models walked the runway like pros, eliciting much applause.

A sort of predecessor to the Zoo Society’s signature formal event, Zoobilee (this year on July 18), the fashion tea gives local boutiques a chance to showcase their clothing that attendees may wish to wear to Zoobilee. The tea, now in its 10th year, evolved more into an all-round fashion show, but still provides a great preview of what’s on the racks in the local shops. Hair and make-up was provided by Brassfields Salon and Day Spa.

The theme of this year’s event was “It’s Not Easy Being Green,” and Point Defiance Zoo Deputy Director John Houck welcomed a very special guest who unfortunately couldn’t be there, the Oregon Spotted Frog. Houck said that in Washington and Oregon 90 percent of this species has died off completely, and the remaining 10 percent remains at great risk. In fact, the American Zoo and Aquarium Association has named 2008 “Year of the Frog” because everywhere wetlands are being drained, habitat is being lost, and the thinning ozone layer is proving detrimental to frogs’ eggs across all species.

Add to this another problem facing all amphibians not just here at home but worldwide – a deadly fungus that was brought over by the African Clawed Frog, a fungus that native frogs have no protection against. Houck said years ago, starting in the early 1930s, the African Clawed Frog was used in pregnancy tests for women. Injecting the frog with a woman’s urine would cause the frog to begin laying its eggs immediately if the woman was pregnant, and proved to be pretty much foolproof.

As more advanced pregnancy testing methods were developed, the African Clawed Frogs shipped throughout the world were let loose into the environment. They died out in Europe and America, leaving the fungus behind. “This problem is an extremely serious one,” Houck said, noting that PDZA is contributing to efforts by an Oregon Spotted Frog Working Group to restore the species. “There’s a large party of people working on this,” he said, including Northwest Trek, Woodland Park Zoo, Oregon Zoo in Portland, fish and wildlife departments in both states, Washington State Department of Transportation, and McChord Air Force Base, among others. Funds raised at the fashion tea will help PDZA continue to contribute funds and expertise to the cause.

Russell credited a big part of the fundraiser’s success to all the volunteers that pitched in. “We owe a lot to our individual volunteers and the event committee for all the hours they put in,” she said. “This event, and Zoobilee, we can do because of community involvement.”

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