Out & About
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Nightlife for Wildlife
Unlike a Rotterdam-based gorilla, Bokito, who took TGIF too far by climbing over a moat, biting a visitor to the Diergaarde Blijdorp Zoo, and barging into a restaurant Friday, the behavior of a Bronx Zoo gorilla, Barbara, is relatively tame, as befits her namesake.
By all accounts, Barbara Zucker, a trustee of the Wildlife Conservation Society, and Barbara the gorilla are model citizens. So while one Barbara plays in the Congo Gorilla Forest, the other, with her husband Donald, a real estate developer, has helped fund a swimming hole for the tigers and the Bug Carousel.
Mrs. Zucker was also among more than a thousand guests who attended the Wildlife Conservation Society’s gala Thursday night at the Central Park Zoo, an event that raised upwards of $1.3 million for the zoos of the Wildlife Conservation Society, which also include venues in Prospect Park, and Queens, as well as the New York Aquarium, none of which have had many outside-the-barriers incidents in their 112-year history
Some of the other model citizens at the gala included a sloth, an alligator, a chairman of the society, David Schiff, and the co-chairmen of the event, Darlene and Brian Heidtke, Katharina Otto-Bernstein and Nathan Bernstein, Allison and Leonard Stern, Ann and Andrew Tisch, Ann and Thomas Unterberg, and Priscilla and Ward Woods.
That night, the spotlight was on animals of Madagascar, which will be the focus of a Bronx Zoo exhibit scheduled to open next summer in the Lion House, a 1903 Beaux Arts building undergoing complete renovation.
The Madagascar exhibit will contain lemurs, crocodiles, and tortoises in habitats — such as the “Spiny Forest,” where most of the trees contain thorns, and an underwater cave — painstakingly modeled after those of the island, which lies off the southeast coast of Africa. Some 80% of its species are unique to Madagascar.
The society began work on the Indian Ocean island, which is roughly the size of Texas, about 13 years ago, when it sent researchers into the field. It also co-manages a national park there.
One of the goals of the exhibit is to showcase the society’s work around the world. Of its 4,200 staff members, 3,000 work abroad, aiding the conservation of wildlife and wild lands.
“We are unique among the great cultural institutions of New York City because of our global deployment and mission,” a president and chief executive of the society, Steve Sanderson, said.
Visitors don’t have to wait until next summer to see transformation at the Bronz Zoo. As part of the society’s $650 million Gateway to Conservation campaign, the Astor Court has been restored and will reopen on June 1.
