This June, Four Dedicated Animal-Welfare Heroes Will Receive Top Honors At Annual Zoo Fundraising Event in Los Angeles, California
(LOS ANGELES, CA) January 14, 2020 — The Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association (GLAZA) announces two sets of global wildlife stars to be awarded at the 2020 Beastly Ball, which takes place on June 6 at the Los Angeles Zoo.
Beastly Ball will present awards to Dr. Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Kathryn Bowers for their revolutionary work in the field of animal science. Dr. Barbara Natterson-Horowitz is a Los-Angeles based, internationally renowned evolutionary biologist, a Harvard and UCLA professor, and the keynote speaker for the 2019 Nobel Assembly’s Nobel Conference in Stockholm. Kathryn Bowers is an applied animal behaviorist who has taught at UCLA and Harvard and worked as an editor at the Atlantic Monthly, CNN-International in London, and at Zócalo Public Square in Los Angeles. Dr. Natterson-Horowitz and Kathryn Bowers have collaborated on two books that have kept the zoo industry abuzz. The groundbreaking critically acclaimed bestseller Zoobiquity (2012) reveals the essential connection between human and animal health. Zoobiquity was inspired by Dr. Natterson-Horowitz’s personal experiences at the Los Angeles Zoo. The duo’s second collaboration, Wildhood (2019), focuses on an entirely new way of thinking about the crucial phase of life between adolescence and adulthood across the animal kingdom.
In addition, the wildly popular, Emmy-nominated educational nature show hosts Chris and Martin Kratt – known as the Kratt Brothers – will be honored with the 2020 Tom Mankiewicz Leadership Award at this year’s Beastly Ball. Zoologists by training, the Kratt brothers have built a global family entertainment brand based on animal education and unbridled enthusiasm. Since founding their production company in 1993, they have won over the hearts and minds of kids for 25 years, by producing 275 episodes of four successful television series: Kratts’ Creatures, Zoboomafoo with the Kratt Brothers, Be the Creature, and Wild Kratts on PBS. Chris and Martin Kratt have parlayed their celebrity to benefit wildlife conservation programs and partnerships all over the world.
“Barbara and Kathryn are accomplished leaders in the animal world. They are deeply connected to the Los Angeles Zoo, which inspired their first book, Zoobiquity. We are proud to honor these two beloved individuals this year, who have long been members of our Zoo family and whose work in the intersection of human and veterinary medicine has taught us so much about our place in the natural world,” says Tom Jacobson, President of the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association. “In addition, we are extremely excited to present The Tom Mankiewicz Leadership Award to Chris and Martin Kratt, who have inspired generations of children and adults with their engaging and exciting programs about wildlife and conservation, making science accessible and fun for everyone. Our distinguished Mankiewicz Award is presented to an individual, program, or project that exemplifies the Zoo’s mission to save animals from extinction and conserve the planet – and the Kratt brothers have been on that mission for 25 years.”
Considered “one the most important fundraisers” by the Los Angeles Times, the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association’s Beastly Ball is critical to the fulfillment of the Los Angeles Zoo’s mission, which advocates for animal conservation and habitat preservation for some of the world’s most rare and vulnerable species, including the California condor, mountain yellow-legged frogs, and peninsular pronghorn antelope. This star-studded annual event brings together celebrities, industry experts, city officials, and zoo supporters for a wild night of food, fun, and fundraising.
WHAT
Beastly Ball 2020
WHEN
Saturday, June 6, 2020 at 6 p.m.
WHERE
Los Angeles Zoo
5333 Zoo Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 644-4200
ABOUT BEASTLY BALL
Now in its 50th year, the annual Beastly Ball is presented by the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association and honors the pledge the L.A. Zoo has made to save animals from extinction. Guests will be taken on a unique journey throughout the Zoo, where they will experience beloved animals such as chimpanzees, giraffes, tigers, hippos, and more, while dining on delicious food from some of L.A.’s most iconic restaurants, surrounded by exciting entertainment, zookeeper talks, and exclusive animal feedings.
L.A. ZOO
Accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the landmark Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens, drawing more than 1.8 million visitors each year, is home to a diverse collection of 1,400 animals representing 270 different species, 58 of which are endangered. Its lush grounds on 133 acres feature a botanical collection comprising over 800 different plant species with approximately 7,000 individual plants. The Zoo is located in Griffith Park at the junction of the Ventura (134) and Golden State (5) freeways.
THE GREATER LOS ANGELES ZOO ASSOCIATION
The private, nonprofit Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association (GLAZA), which has supported the Zoo in partnership with the City of Los Angeles for more than five decades and provides funding for and operates seven essential Zoo departments, has 55,000 member households representing more than 210,000 adults and children. As evidence of the Zoo’s popularity, GLAZA attracts one of the largest membership bases of any cultural organization in Los Angeles.