seneca park zoo, rochester, new york

Save the Date:  July 25, 2015 Party Madagascar!
The Seneca Park Zoo docents know about sustainability!  For over ten years they have raised funds for conservation programs in Madagascar including the Madagascar Fauna and Flora Group.  The docents’ Conservation Committee, chaired by Carol Merkel, has hosted an annual fund-raising event, “Party Madagascar” since 2004; after so many years they have it down to an art. The Party’s expenses are covered by sponsors throughout the area including the local GEICO company!  The docents organize a raffle and a silent auction, all with items that have been donated to the cause. Refreshments, games for children and adults, music, face-painting and, the last few years, an amazing group of dancers contribute to the great atmosphere that brings in hundreds of people. Because docents are always dedicated to educating visitors, they bring in a speaker and develop displays highlighting the projects funded through the event. Designed by docent Darleen Benson, invitations and posters announcing the Party are beautiful and eye-catching.  

The docents dedicate their time, persuasive skills and talents throughout the year to obtain sponsors and donations, make the decorations, find  volunteers to serve the food,  set-up the games, paint faces, hold the silent auction and then clean it all up!  Maybe they take a few weeks off after the Party but then they begin again for next year’s event. 

The MFG thanks all the Seneca Zoo docents who have supported the MFG for over a decade – your support is one reason the MFG can commit to sustaining our conservation work in Madagascar.  

Tropical Butterfly house Wildlife and Falconry Centre - Sheffield, United kingdom 

At the Tropical Butterfly House, we believe it’s important to contribute to the vital work undertaken by conservation charities. In 2013, we welcomed ten ring-tailed lemurs and three red-ruffed lemurs to the park, into a state of the art, purpose-built walk-through lemur exhibit. Being able to allow our visitors to see and interact with these fascinating animals means we can more easily inspire them to be interested in protecting those in the wild. Children are the conservationists of the future, so getting the message across that lemurs are under threat in their natural habitats is a priority for us as a Zoo.  

In 2014, we hosted our second annual ‘Mad about Madagascar’ event during the two week Easter School Holidays. With so many unique and endangered species in Madagascar, the event not only celebrates the biodiversity of the island, but educates visitors about the threats facing many species. In our free-flying Bird Shows twice a day, the presenters entertain the crowds, whilst fundraising too. Two Hahn’s Macaw brothers, Ché and Esteban, have been  trained to take donations from visitors with their beaks and fly back to collection bowls. We are thrilled to be able to contribute to the hard work the MFG. 

The MFG thanks the Tropical Butterfly House staff for selecting the MFG - and Ché and Esteban for transporting the money!

The Greenville Zoo, South Carolina

The Greenville Zoo began their Quarters for Conservation program in 2010. They take 25 cents from every admission fee and three dollars from every membership fee and place the money in a restricted conservation account. Each year fifty percent of the conservation funds are given directly to four conservation projects; in 2013 the Madagascar Fauna and Flora Group was one of the four projects. Since 2010 over $100,000 has been donated to local and global conservation projects represented on the Greenville Zoo’s voting kiosk.

The projects are selected in April and revealed to Zoo guests on July 1 when they appear on the kiosk. Projects to be represented on the kiosk must be nominated by Greenville Zoo staff members and are then voted upon by the Zoo’s Conservation and Research Committee. The Madagascar Fauna and Flora Group was nominated by Greenville Zoo’s General Curator, Keith Gilchrist and selected by the committee as one of the four projects to be displayed on the kiosk, i.e., the project will receive funding but the committee doesn't determine how much funding it will receive. That is left up to Zoo patrons. All guests receive a token when they first enter the Zoo and can vote by depositing their token in the slot corresponding to their favorite project. The Madagascar Fauna and Flora Group project was the overall favorite project of the year, receiving just over 33 percent of all votes.

San Diego Zoo builds facility for aye ayes

In February 2014, five illegally held aye-ayes were discovered by a team of researchers from the Aspinall Foundation, Association Mitsinjo. In collaboration with the government of Madagascar, represented by Mr. Eric Robsomanitrandrasana, MEF-DVRN, the aye-ayes were confiscated from the Malagasy villager who was holding them in small wire cages at his home.   Virtually no information about the capture location, history and recent care of these animals was available. One individual died shortly after being brought to Parc Ivoloina on March 3 and a second died despite intensive veterinary care provided by Dr. Cathy Williams, Duke Lemur Center.  The San Diego Zoo responded generously to the MFG’s request to fund an off-exhibit housing facility for the aye ayes which was completed in October.