A LOVING LEGACY

DONOR SPOTLIGHT

A Loving Legacy

byBRENDA SCOTT ROYCE

Actress, author, and animal advocate Betty White touched millions of people around the world with her ability to make us laugh, cry, and care. Throughout her career, she used her influence to make the world a better place for all creatures. And since her death in December, the Golden Girl has cast a warm glow over the world, inspiring countless others to follow her lead—donating or volunteering for zoos, rescues, and other animal welfare organizations.

For Trudy Beach, Betty’s passing inspired self-reflection—and the kind of soul-searching that leads to life-altering decisions. “It sparked something in me,” she says. “I thought, I have to do something in this life to make a difference.”

Like Betty, Trudy has a soft spot for animals—and a special fondness for big cats. Having once worked for a wildlife facility that brought critters into classrooms, she believes passionately in the importance of educating children about our planet’s vanishing wildlife. “Animals are so important, and so many people take them for granted. They’re beautiful, majestic, and magical—and we need to protect them.”

With no children of her own, the sixty-something Beach had been uncertain what to do with her estate. “And then we lost Betty, and I thought, ‘Oh my God, maybe I could help carry on her work in some small way,” she says. “Maybe in the end I can do something great.”

The lifelong Angeleno ultimately decided to include the Los Angeles Zoo in her estate plan through GLAZA’s planned giving program, the Selig Legacy Society. “Betty wouldn’t have devoted decades of her life to somewhere that wasn’t doing good,” says Beach. “So, I knew I was picking the right spot.” The fact that Beach’s mother was also named Betty makes the tribute doubly sweet.

Bequests like Beach’s ensure that future generations will continue to be inspired to nurture and protect wildlife.

TO LEARN MORE about the Selig Legacy Society and its benefits, please contact Rob Woolley at 323-486-4213 or email rwoolley@lazoo.org.

JALIEN TULLEY other new arrivals. “For most mammals, the quarantine is 30 days,” says Director of Animal Wellness Dr. Dominique Keller. “That’s because there’s been a lot of pre-testing that has taken place, and we get the animals’ history from the zoo they are coming from. But because the pronghorn are being imported from a native area and we don’t know their medical history, they have to undergo a much longer quarantine.”

The federally mandated quarantine is “quite a commitment,” Schaefer adds, “but it’s one that we’ve undertaken for the good of the project.”

In addition to overseeing the quarantine process, Keller and her staff also provide veterinary care for members of our Zoo herd. “They get annual vaccines, at which time we do full physical exams, draw blood, and check their hooves,” says Keller. “The rest of the year, unless a keeper notices that something is amiss, we try to be relatively hands-off.”

BRINGING IT HOME

Earlier this year, Schaefer, Keller, and Animal Keeper Mark Linggi traveled to Guerrero Negro to participate in a particularly historic event—the first-ever release of collared pronghorn to the wild. Eight captive-reared pronghorn were fitted with GPS tracking collars to assist with monitoring, then released. (Read Mark’s story on page 12.)

For Keller, the experience not only stoked her own passion for conservation but also provided invaluable insights that she brought back to her staff. “Understanding an animal’s natural ecology helps in terms of ensuring its health and well-being,” she explains. “Pronghorn are such hearty animals, and they’ve evolved in tune with their environment. Being able to see them firsthand in the field—to see how they live and what they face on a daily basis—really brings it home.”

Upon her return, Keller gave a presentation to the veterinary and nutrition staff. “Everyone was excited to be able to see the animals in such big numbers, and to understand the conditions they’re living under,” she says. “It put things into context. They could see what they’re doing with our little group of pronghorn—and understand what it means for the bigger picture.”