As it has for the past 42 years, the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association (GLAZA) gave more than 800 guests a wild evening they won't soon forget as the organization staged its annual Beastly Ball fundraiser this past Saturday.
Guests, dressed in safari attire, strolled the zoo's grounds, stopping to sample the offerings of local restaurants, observe the facility's inhabitants, engage in up-close-and-personal meetings with animals and their handlers, bid on unique silent-auction items, visit the new LAIR (Living Amphibians, Invertebrates and Reptiles) habitat, and enjoy the music, ranging from jazz to African to rumba, that blended from one area of the zoo to another.
The formal portion of the evening, hosted by comedian Jimmy Pardo with music by the Makoto Taiko drummers, paid tribute to former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan for his commitment to ensuring the zoo has been an international leader in the preservation of endangered species and a conservation center for the care and study of wildlife.