FRIEND OF THE LAND- DECEMBER 2021

In Memorium

Protect The Harvest wants to salute Wildlife World Zoo founder, Mickey Ollson posthumously as our December Friend of the Land.

Mickey founded Wildlife World Zoo in 1984. As a little boy, he had a dream that one day he would open his own zoo.

"I had chicken pox, so I couldn't go to school for a couple weeks," said Ollson.

To pass the time, he drew a map of his future zoo, which ended up looking amazingly like the early era Wildlife World Zoo he eventually built.

Mickey was a “hands on” type of owner, spending every day at the zoo, checking in with his keepers and animals, building and adding new exhibits year by year, watching his childhood dream grow into Arizona’s largest exotic animal collection, a 100-acre zoo that houses 6,000 animals.

Late last year, Mickey received the Zoological Association of America’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest ZAA honor for professional excellence and contributions to the zoo industry.

Protect The Harvest spent some time at Wildlife World Zoo in January of 2020. You can view the videos below:
https://protecttheharvest.com/news/wildlife-world-zoo-aquarium-and-safari-park/

https://protecttheharvest.com/news/zoos-offer-a-valuable-service-wildlife-world-zoo

/https://protecttheharvest.com/news/wildlife-world-zoo-the-difference-between-animal-rights-and-animal-welfare/

Protect The Harvest Advisory Committee Member Trent Loos, interviewed Kristy Morcom from Wildlife World Zoo, Aquarium and Safari Park and David O’Connor from Save Giraffes Now about that organization and their mission to rescue stranded Rothchild’s giraffes. You can see that video here:

https://protecttheharvest.com/news/save-giraffes-now-needs-your-help/

It is the family’s wish that in lieu of flowers, a donation to save one of Mickey’s favorite animals, the giraffe, be given to Save Giraffes Now.
Thank you Mickey, for your years of dedication to wildlife conservation.

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