The Los Angeles Zoo's Beastly Ball is the city's wildest gala.

The party mixes wild and exotic animals with celebrities and zoo patrons for a night of fundraising. "LA Times Today" got a look at the preparations for this year's event.  

Tom Jacobson, president of the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association, talked about the return of the Beastly Ball. 

"The last two years we've done it virtually online and we were really successful. But this year we're back in person and we're so excited to welcome everyone back to this area. This is a gala that is unlike any other gala. You do not sit at a table listening to speeches. You are roaming throughout the zoo, having great food, having wonderful drinks, seeing the animals, meeting our keepers, and at the end of the evening, having drinks and dancing in the middle of the afternoon."

The late Betty White was on the zoo's board for decades before she passed away in 2021. Jacobson talked about what White did to publicize and support the zoo. 

"One of the first things she did when she started on her board was to create a television special with a lot of her friends from the TV and film industry that publicized the zoo. And then every year from then on, until she passed away at the end of December, she made personal gifts. She would ask other people to make gifts. She publicized the things the zoo does to save species from extinction."

The LA Zoo has a long history of conservation. Efforts to bring species like the California condor have been successful but are expensive.

"The Los Angeles Zoo is entirely supported by admissions and the money that is raised by the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association. So the people of Los Angeles make our Los Angeles Zoo possible and they make its work in wildlife conservation possible here and around the world. So, this event will raise more than $1,000,000 in support of the zoo's wildlife conservation mission," Jacobson said.

This year's Beastly Ball returns in person on Saturday, June 4th. For more information on the ball, and to purchase tickets, visit here.

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