Director's Report 2021 - Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo
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Director’s Report – 2021
Since opening our gates at the new zoo on March 11th of 2020, we have been met with a variety of challenges. From a global pandemic, a major hurricane, changing Federal and State health requirements, to some extremely difficult financial times. Preparation, adaptability, determination, innovation, and resilience have kept us going. This is no small feat, nor should those words be taken lightly. It is due to our dedicated staff, and our larger zoo family, that we are still here, the gates are still open, and we are ready to write the next chapter of the Zoo’s history book. Your zoo started with a dream and fierce dedication. Dedication is what continues to fuel us today. As we closed in on the end of 2021, who would have thought that we would still be dealing with a global pandemic. Yet here we are, dealing with another variant of the COVID-19 virus, Omicron (sounds like a character out of a Transformers movie). The year of 2021 was a year of recovery for us in many ways. We survived the shutdowns, recovered from Hurricane Sally, and figured out how to keep the Zoo running despite restrictions. We closed the year better off this year than the last and we look forward to what 2022 will bring us. The dedication and support of our staff has allowed us to accomplish many projects, spread environmental messaging to untold numbers of guests and supporters, reach new segments of our population through innovative partnerships and programs, and support field projects in far corners of the world. A special thank you goes out to our entire zoo family for your continued dedication and support in making the Zoo a success!
By the Numbers We had 234,842
guests visit the Zoo
in 2021!
Ben and Akayla helped
educate more than 14,000
guests during giraffe feedings!
Guests rode the amusements
almost 44,000 times!
The Guest Engagement Team
provided more than 37,000
individual adventures to our guests!
Three new exhibits opened in 2021:
• Coola Springs Walkabout
• South American Adventure
• Walk Through Aviary
Through the grassroots efforts of our staff, and
your generosity, we have been able to raise
funds to support conservation projects in:
• Southeast Asia
• Africa
• South America
New Exhibits The team at the Zoo works hard to continually improve the Zoo. Nothing is more exciting to the team than being able to build a new exhibit. We were lucky in 2021 as we were able to build three new exhibits thanks to some very generous Zoo family members.
Conservation A significant part of the Zoo’s mission is to support and promote conservation of the world around us. Therefore, our educational programs are an important part of what we do. Teaching guests, helping them make connections to nature, and inspiring guests to be good stewards of the environment are all basic values driving our mission.
Supporting conservation programs in the field is an important pillar of our mission.
During 2021, staff created several new events and opportunities to generate funds to
support field conservation. The Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo has supported cheetah
conservation in Africa for several years through the Zoological Association of America
(ZAA). We were able to continue our support of the cheetah program this year. While
the Zoo does not have cheetah in the collection, the projects supported by our donation
affects a variety of species within the region.
Through the grassroots efforts of our Conservation Committee, early in the year, our
efforts focused on raising awareness of clouded leopards in southeast Asia. Zoom
meetings were set up with researchers that allowed staff to hear about the field work
being done to help these amazing cats. The staff was also able to ask questions directly
to those who are working in the forest to help “cloudies”. Through sales in the gift shop
of stuffed animals, “adoption” kits, stickers, and other items, we were able to raise
funds to help support these researchers and their important work in Asia.
In June, we celebrated World Giraffe Day with a one-
day fundraiser to help support giraffe conservation in
Africa. Beautiful paintings done by “Benjamin” were
available, along with other fund-raising opportunities,
created revenue that allowed the Zoo to support the
Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF).
This fall, we hosted our very first “Zoo Brew – A Toast for Tamarins”.
This inaugural event was well-attended, had over 20 breweries
represented, and was enjoyed by all the attendees. A portion of the
proceeds raised supported “Proyecto Titi”, a project in South America
focusing on the endangered cotton-top tamarin. We expect to continue
presenting Zoo Brew in 2022.
We wrapped up our year with “Lights for Lions”. This project recycles
old, worn out, unwanted holiday lights and turns them into cash to
support the Ruaha Carnivore Project in Tanzania, Africa. Ruaha’s
projects focus on lions, hyena, and other large carnivores to address
the challenges presented by human-animal conflicts.
As the first year of focused effort to raise funds for conservation support,
it was quite successful! We raised over $8,000 for conservation support! Thank you to
the staff for their creativity and hard work. Thank you to all of those who attended or
supported these efforts. You all helped make a difference for animals in the wild!
What’s New for Our Staff
In 2021, we were able to make significant progress in our employee benefits, work
environment, and organizational values. In 2021, we rolled out the organization’s first
Employee Handbook! We began with the existing mission and emphasizing our four
pillars: Education, Conservation, Adventure, and Community. From there, we surveyed
staff to establish our core values. (Remember: MISFITSPDC!)
● Mission- use our mission to guide decision making
● Integrity- do the right thing
● Stewardship- inspire respect for the environment
● Fun- enjoy every visit to the zoo
● Innovation- creating solutions that exceed the standard
● Teamwork- respect and help each other achieve common goals
● Safety- provide a safe environment for our staff, guests, and animals
● Passion- for our work, the animals, and for nature
● Diversity- respect differences among team members, guests, and
communities
● Customer Service- provide a great experience for our guests
We now observe seven holidays throughout the year rather than only three. The
Human Resources office was successful in getting all eligible employees great healthcare
benefits. In rolling out our employee handbook, we now have consistent guidelines for
employment, vacation time, and many other aspects that guide our daily work life.
Later in the year, we were able to roll out an annual evaluation tool that is tied to
performance increases in salary. Those who consistently perform at a higher level,
receive a higher-level increase in their pay. Now, each employee can affect and has
personal control over their financial future.
To help improve communications, we now have a monthly employee newsletter that is
sent out to all staff via email.
A lot of time has been put into making your zoo a better place to work. Go Team!
Other Firsts for the New Zoo
One Foundation Partnership
The One Club has been a great neighbor. They have
provided support to the Zoo in many ways. Over the
summer, they hosted a charity golf tournament that
benefited the Zoo. Thank you to the One Foundation
for your continued support!
Boo at the Zoo
We hosted our first Boo at the Zoo in the new
location. We had 2,500 ghosts and guests join us
that day!
Monthly Member/Donor Newsletter
In June, a Member/Donor Newsletter was
started and is sent monthly to our members
and donors. We also celebrated our extended
Zoo family with a sneak preview of the South
American Adventure before it opened to the
public.
Sloth Birth
A fun online event was the name the baby sloth campaign.
“Gus” as he is now known is a popular resident in the
South American Adventure! Gus is short for fungus which
grows in their fur and provides camouflage in the forest.
South Baldwin Literacy Council
The Zoo partnered with the South Baldwin Literacy Council to
help them bring their summer reading program to life. The
program goal was to have each student read 40 books about
places, countries, and animals from all over the world. The
Zoo brought animals to the classrooms to help enhance the
lessons. Students who completed
the program received free passes
to the Zoo to come see all the
other animals that we could not
bring into their classrooms!
Our partnership continued in the fall with reading sessions at
the Zoo in November. Several children’s books were read in
various places throughout the Zoo near the animals
highlighted in the books.
We wrapped up the year with some holiday celebrations!
❖ Upcycle, Recycle Holiday Decorations – staff
decorated various areas of the Zoo with holiday
decorations made from recycled materials. The
results were fun and very creative!
❖ Selfies with Santa – guests had a chance to take
pictures with Santa at the giraffe feeding station.
Even Benjamin had some requests for Santa!
❖ Angel Tree – Thanks to your kindness and
support, we received over $1,000 in donations to
help support the enrichment program for our
animals!
What’s New for ‘22 ❖ Munsell Sustainable Garden We are in the final stages of construction of the Munsell Sustainable Garden. This new exhibit will highlight plants instead of animals. The garden will serve as a teaching space about raising your own fruit and vegetables, vermiculture, composting, and other topics. The garden will provide novel food items for the animals and produce herbs and vegetables that can be used in the Safari Club Restaurant. No garden would be complete without resident chickens! We are thankful to the Munsell’s for their donation and making this garden a possibility. ❖ Coola Springs Development Australia is a very interesting continent with many unique animals. We hope to continue building exhibits in this area for other species. While the ideas are still in the early conceptual stage, we would like to create an exhibit for adult kangaroos or wallabies, emus, additional birds, a new larger aviary for kookaburras and possibly a feeding aviary for lories. ❖ Walk Through Aviary As the plants in the Aviary mature and grow to provide more perching and cover for the birds, we will continue to add new species to that exhibit.
In 2022, our conservation efforts are going to focus on South America. We will still
celebrate World Giraffe Day and support a few other programs around the world, but
most of the efforts will go to “Save South America”. Each quarter will focus on a
different animal species or group from the New World. Hopefully, we will improve upon
the successes of 2021 and make 2022 even more impactful!
A New Roar - The Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo has been approached by the Zoological
Association of America (ZAA – our accreditation body) to become an active partner in
establishing new genetic lines within the North American population of African lions.
This represents an incredible opportunity for your zoo to become a leader in lion
preservation and do our part in securing a future for lions for
many generations to come. We hope to make this opportunity a
reality in 2022!
Shortly after the turn of the new year, the Zoo welcomed two
young capybaras into the collection. These youngsters will spend
thirty days in quarantine before being on exhibit in the Americas.
Capybaras are the world’s largest rodents and look like giant
guinea pigs!
I want to thank each of you for your support, dedication, and hard work, especially
during the past year. Thank you for sticking with us even when the times seemed a bit
challenging. Our gates are open. We are ready for a new year of exciting possibilities.
And congratulations to the staff on a job well done!
Thank You for a successful year!
Your Zoo Director,
Joel M. HamiltonYou can also read
