Annual Report the Year in Review Mission Statement
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& FOUNDATION 2011 Annual Report The Year In Review Mission Statement As I begin my second year as the Foundation’s president, I The mission of the Sequoia Park Zoo is to connect the community with animals to inspire wonder, am pleased to be able to personally thank all of our supporters understanding and conservation of wildlife and the natural world. for your generous contributions to the Foundation and Zoo, a remarkable private/public partnership between the Foundation The mission of the Sequoia Park Zoo Foundation is to promote and stimulate interest in the Sequoia Park and the City of Eureka. Zoo and support the zoo’s development, operation and education programs through fundraising, marketing, and other initiatives designed to enhance the zoo experience. Since 1907, the City has owned the land and exhibits and funded the day-to-day operations of the Zoo, providing staffing, animal care and feeding, veterinary care, and facilities maintenance. The Foundation (a private 501(c)(3) charitable organization) was created in 2004 to provide the funding for exhibit upgrades Staff and renovations, new exhibits, marketing and community outreach, and guest services, including the gift shop and café. A foundation is often seen as an organization that awards grants using invested endowment funds or accumulated assets. The Sequoia Park Zoo Foundation is a little different. We are the fundraising arm of the Zoo, working with individuals, businesses, foundations, and government agencies to raise the funds that provide the extra dollars needed to improve and enhance the Zoo in support of its 20-year Master Plan. The highlight of 2011 was the award of a $2.3M California ZOO STAFF FOUNDATION STAFF Parks and Recreation grant to build a River otter, Bald eagle, salmon exhibit called Watershed Heroes. The grant application Zoo Manager Director of Development process was a great example of cooperation between the City Gretchen Ziegler & Communications Board of Directors and the Foundation: the Foundation’s Development Director Nicole Spencer Chuck Dominick, President and the City’s Zoo Manager and Education Coordinator jointly Animal Care Staff Pat Bitton, Vice President produced a compelling, competitive proposal – one of only three Amanda Auston Administrative & Events Roy Corsetti, Treasurer zoos and aquariums funded from over 300 total submissions. Camden Bruner Coordinator Christi Coffman, Secretary Kelsey Kuhn Megan Stobb Linda Jo Alexander City staff and the Foundation will continue to work together Elisa Miller Gene Bass to create the exhibit. The grant will be paid to the Foundation Nicole Nagel Volunteer Coordinator Pete Belak over time and is not reflected in this report. In keeping with Natalie Parchman Sandra Sanderson Jolene Buck our normal practice of the past eight years, the Foundation will Lucinda Smith Denise Davi present the exhibit to the City of Eureka when it is completed. Janeé Thill Membership Assistant Annette De Modena Anders Wirth Rebecca Koreen Louise Jacobson Even a grant of this size, however, does not cover all the Frank Jager expenses associated with installing a large new exhibit, so the Education Staff Rentals Assistant Naomi Johnson Foundation will continue to seek support and funding for this Danza Chisholm-Sims Josey Bunke Jeff Lamoree project as well as others. Your contributions are a vital part Vanessa Halley Paul McGinty of our effort to sustain the Sequoia Park Zoo’s mission in our Amber Neilson Café Staff Donna Pace community and region. On behalf of the Foundation’s Board Hannah Schwend Geraldine Bass, Manager of Directors, I thank you for your continued support of the Zoo Crystal Lockhart Eureka City Council Liaison and the Foundation. Operations Staff Harry Stangeland Marian Brady Kathleen Juliano Sincerely, Damaris McClelland Gift Shop Staff Nina Nahvi Arlene Ghera, Manager Laura Turk Joann Nord Chuck Dominick, Foundation Board President 2 3 Visitor Statistics Milestones & 67,281 Improvements Total 2011 Attendance Flamingos, Cavies & Screamers, Oh My! 5% Percentage of paid Zoo visits from: Renovation Completed With the recent completion of the Flamingos, Cavies & Screamers, Oh Humboldt County residents My! exhibit renovation, the Chilean flamingos are now enjoying their new and more natural habitat. Visitors can now walk directly across the 22% Other California & Oregon residents exhibit, with the flamingos on one side and the Crested screamers and Remainder of U.S. 48% Patagonian cavies on the other, to reach the Aviary. This kind of mixed- International visitors species exhibit is a fundamental part of the Zoo’s Master Plan; it allows us to create a more natural environment for the animals and use our limited space more effectively. For visitors, it’s a chance to experience 25% how biodiverse animal communities live. Zoo Memberships This exhibit is the first implementation of our “Tropical Andes Biodiversity Hotspot” zone, which illustrates the importance of biodiversity on earth by showcasing a particular hotspot – in this case in South America. As we move forward with implementing the Zoo Master Plan, this zone will be expanded to include Giant anteater, 1,734 capybara, and Maned wolf. The rheas will also be integrated into this 52% of admissions-based 1,527 zone. Zoo visits come from people # of members 861 Watershed Heroes Grant Award living outside of Humboldt County. In April, the California Department of Parks and Recreation awarded the Zoo Foundation a Nature Education Facility grant of $2.33 million to develop and build an educational exhibit entitled Watershed Heroes. This project will deliver the first elements in the Native Predators zone of the Zoo’s Master Plan and centers on charismatic wildlife of our Flamingos, Cavies & Screamers, Oh My! Annual Zoo Visitors ZEAP visits local watershed, including River otters, salmon, and Bald eagles. There Project Contributors will also be an otter breeding facility, underwater salmon viewing BerGel Construction 80000, What is ZEAP? station, and water lab classroom. Ben B. Cheney Foundation 70000, Paid Admissions The Zoo Economic Assistance Coast Central Credit Union visits This project will use a variety of cutting-edge techniques to demonstrate 60000, Program (ZEAP) provides Zoo Bass & Guerrero Concrete access to underserved members the need for healthy watersheds, the relationships between humans 50000, of the community. and these animals, and how each of us can be a better steward of our Christine & Jalmer Berg Foundation 40000, Member visits environment. The design phase will commence in Spring 2012. Rob & Cherie Arkley City of Eureka 30000, # of visitors Don’s Rent-All 20000, Casper Eagle Scout Project 10000, Natzler Landscapes 0 Rotary Club of Eureka 2009 2010 2011 Trinidad Electric Zootini 2008 Donors 4 5 Animal Care & Red Panda Review Monterey Bay Aquarium had six Our Red panda exhibit has been open for over a year now. flamingos that needed placement Our two panda brothers Shifu and Sumo have charmed within a short time frame. Could New Additions and delighted visitors and helped provide another unique experience that everyone looks forward to. we help out? Absolutely! This past year animal care staff learned much about the pandas’ personalities and behaviors. Shifu is quite shy, while New Additions Sumo is bolder and more active. They shun square bamboo, Six Chilean flamingos but relish golden and black bamboo and fresh spring grass. Rare, all-white Virginia opossum They produce an amazingly large volume of poop. They Flamingos from Monterey Bay Aquarium are shy around strangers, and their claws are razor sharp, Female Golden pheasants but they will gently accept a grape tidbit from their favorite Accredited zoos collaborate together in many ways, and one great example of this collaboration involved Sequoia Park Zoo Giant Flemish rabbit keepers. Keepers have trained them to enter a crate, stand and the Monterey Bay Aquarium. After completing a space survey for the Flamingo SSP (Species Survival Plan), in which we Several new chicken breeds on a scale, and even “paint!” These one-of-a-kind paw print indicated that our new exhibit can accommodate a larger flock, the program coordinator called with the news that Monterey had Female Patagonian cavy abstracts are sold in the gift shop in support of the Zoo’s six birds in need of placement. Could we help out? Absolutely! Once transport logistics were arranged and quarantine space was conservation programs. The pandas themselves have grown Male Red-crested turaco readied, Zookeeper Janeé Thill traveled to Monterey and together with one of their keepers, drove the six flamingos back up the to adulthood and have learned the ins and outs of life in the coast to their new home in Eureka. Madagascar giant hissing cockroaches redwoods: the windy weather took some getting used to, but this climate is perfect for their heavy fur coats. Thorough After their 30-day quarantine period, all six joined the flock and integrated immediately. These birds were hatched at San New 2012 Additions vet exams have found them to be in exceptionally healthy Diego Zoo and will be old enough to breed in a few years; it will be interesting to see if they pair with some of our longer-term condition. North American porcupine residents. Next year the SSP would like us to return the favor by donating some of our birds to the Wildlife Safari in Oregon to help their small flock grow, as flamingos are highly social birds that do best in flocks of 20 or more. We now have 35 birds, and Bird-eating tarantula Their zoo habitat is maturing too: maple trees are growing, we have high hopes for more chicks in the summer. Reeve’s muntjac grass and shrubs are thicker, and keepers planted two Baby cavies, turacos and flamingos! mulberry trees last winter which will one day provide more canopy climbing and resting areas, plus mulberry fruit Weigh-To-Go! that pandas enjoy. Not surprisingly, the timber and golden Thanks to a grant from Humboldt Area Foundation’s Animal Welfare Field of Interest program, the Zoo received funding to bamboo in the exhibit is nibbled on too regularly to thrive, purchase a large animal scale and custom-built stanchion to weigh Barnyard and other zoo animals.