ZooTampa at Lowry Park

New partnership announcement 📣 📰 We're thrilled to announce that ZooTampa at Lowry Park and Suncoast Credit Union have teamed up for wildlife! 🦒 ZooTampa at Lowry Park and Suncoast Credit Union, the largest credit union in Florida, announced a new three-year, multi-tiered partnership that makes Suncoast Credit Union the official credit union of the Zoo. In addition, the 1.2 million credit union members can participate in a special summer BOGO admission promotion by presenting their Suncoast credit or debit card when they visit the Zoo. This partnership allows both organizations to offer families an opportunity to enjoy time together in an educational setting and create future champions for wildlife. 🐾 Thank you to Suncoast Credit Union and all our sponsors for their support and continued dedication to ZooTampa. #partnerships #zoos #businesspartnership #tampabay #conservation #CommunityPartnership #wildlifeconservation #SuncoastCreditUnion

It's Manatee Monday! 🩵 We're checking in with Molly, the Senior Curator of Florida and Marine Life here at ZooTampa! 🦀 We have some major updates in the works, and we can’t wait to make an even bigger impact on the lives of Florida manatees as the largest non-profit manatee critical care center in the US. ❤️🤍💙 #ZooTampa #UnlockTampaBay #Manatees #Florida #Manateemonday #ZTSaves #conservation

The summer solstice which typically marks the “official” start of summer is here, although it’s felt like summer in Tampa for weeks. As the temperatures climb, the team at ZooTampa at Lowry Park is finding creative ways to help its animals beat the extreme heat, and even finding ways to stay cool themselves with some Kona Ice! One of the many things the Zoo's dedicated animal care teams are doing is adding frozen summertime treats to the animals’ menu, thanks to Kona Ice of Old Seminole Tampa, who donated 150lbs. of shaved ice. Although, most of the Zoo’s animal species are from warm weather regions and can comfortably manage Tampa Bay’s hot temperatures, summer cooling activities have been added to the animals’ daily behavioral-based enrichment programs, including sprinklers, pools, and mud wallows to provide the animals with engaging choices for beating the heat. Daytime access to air-conditioned night houses also ensures the animals have the option to chill out behind the scenes.

Thank you, Spectrum Baynews9 Erin Murray for highlighting our collaboration with the all-girls camp with Mission: Tampa Bay in action! This initiative is more than just a camp—it's a movement to inspire and empower the next generation of female leaders in STEM. It was so exciting to see the girls soak up a ton of knowledge about manatees and conservation at ZooTampa at Lowry Park David A. Straz, Jr. Manatee Critical Care Center. #ZooTampa #MissionTampaBay #stem #manateeconservation #science https://lnkd.in/eA3XcUbF

🎉 We did it! 🎉 Thank you to everyone who joined us for a week full of fun and knowledge at ZooTampa's very first Behavior Workshop: Teaching Animals with Science and Empathy! We would also like to extend a thank you to our sponsors, we couldn't have held this wonderful workshop without you: Precision Behavior MICANOPY ZOOLOGICAL PRESERVE LLC AmeriLife Marketing Group Buckey Office and Installations CK's produce Vishal Cabral Design Co. The Elgin Center Animal Care and Welfare

We have some great news to share with you! 📣 🐾 ZooTampa’s Animal Ambassador and Manatee Rescue Team received the Florida Library Association Award at the 2024 Florida Library Association Annual Conference. 📚️ This prestigious award, presented by the Florida Library Association, recognizes ZooTampa as an outstanding business partner with the Tampa-Hillsborough County Library system for our six years of virtual and in-person conservation program through our community partner. Our extensive conservation program was made possible by the Tampa Bay Estuary Specialty License Plate, Tarpon Tag, and 2024 Bay Mini-Grant award. 🏆️ This newest award represents an incredible collaboration between our fantastic education and animal care teams. 🐾 Please join us in congratulating our ZT team on their achievement!👏🏽 #ZooTampa #UnlockTampaBay #ZTsaves #environmentaleducation #WildlifeConservation #FloridaLibraryAssociationAward

❗We're one week out from hosting our first Animal Well-Being Workshop! 📣 Calling all Zoo and aquarium professionals, domestic animal professionals, aspiring animal professionals, wildlife educators and those looking to learn skills to apply to their own animals. 🐻 If you're looking for a learning opportunity then look no further than our Animal Well-Being Workshop that offers animal professionals the opportunity to learn ethical, science-based methods of animal management. This initiative is part of ZooTampa at Lowry Park commitment to advancing the field of animal welfare and building our Behavioral Husbandry program. 🐾 Join us June 10 -13 at ZooTampa for this interactive workshop! 🐾 If you can't make it to Tampa next week, we're offering a virtual option. Don't miss out! 🐧 Click the link to learn more. https://lnkd.in/eE5URY69

🛟As we enter the busiest time of year for boating, it's important to remember the essentials of boat safety to ensure the well-being of boaters, swimmers, manatees, and other wildlife. 🏊♀️ Respecting low wake zones is one easy way you can practice safe boating while making a difference for wildlife. 🪧 Boat strikes are an incredibly common injury in wild manatees; by preventing wake you reduce this risk while also protecting shorelines and essential habitats. 🐟️ Safe boating doesn't stop there! Here are a few more ways you can protect wildlife on the water: ⛵️ 🔍️ Ask a friend to act as a wildlife lookout 🛍️ Reduce single use plastic that damages habitats 🔊 Spread the word! You can find Tampa's no-wake zones and other relevant information here: https://lnkd.in/epRkiK6b ❗️And remember: When in doubt, slow down❗️ #ZooTampa #UnlockTampaBay #ZTSaves #Manatees #Safeboatingweek

📣It's only fitting to bring awareness to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Hurricane Preparedness Week with an offical StormReady designation. 🌀 🐾On Thursday, the National Weather Service Tampa Bay Florida (NWS) officially designated ZooTampa at Lowry Park as StormReady, making it the first non-theme park Zoo in Florida to receive this prestigious national designation. 📣 🐾To achieve this significant milestone our Safety and Compliance team had to complete a comprehensive review of the Zoo’s severe weather safety procedures and develop a proactive response plan to better prepare the Zoo for severe weather events. 🌀StormReady, established in 1999, is a nationwide program that helps communities take a proactive approach to protect citizens during severe weather events. StormReady is a voluntary National Weather Service program that provides communities with clear-cut advice through a partnership between the local Weather Service Office, state and local emergency managers, and the media. 📣With this recognition, ZooTampa joins more than 3,350 sites and nearly 1207 communities nationwide to earn the elite designation. In Florida, 67 counties and 164 sites have been named StormReady. ⛈️ #ZooTampa #hurricanepreparednessweek #StormReady #nationaweatherservice #NOAA

🦒We extend our deepest gratitude to the Community Foundation Tampa Bay for their generous grant of $25,000, enabling us to tackle the educational gap in students' engagement with the natural world. 🐾 Thanks to their support, we are proud to introduce our new Nature Nurtures program, an initiative designed to deliver wildlife experiences to 3rd through 5th graders in Hillsborough County schools that will inspire students' empathy and respect for the natural world and each other. 😊 Our goal is to empower children to develop robust social skills and gain insight into environmental sustainability initiatives, thereby preparing them to actively participate in conservation endeavors for a brighter future. The program is scheduled to launch in the 2024-2025 School Year. 🐾 #ZooTampa #communityfoundationtampabay #communitypartners #UnLockTampabay