Terry Mallo, Special Events Manager at Metrozoo, was contacted by Miami-Dade resident Yoli Troncoso, Roxana’s sister.  Roxana and her family in California were coming to Miami for Christmas.  “Yoli called me with Kevin’s idea of proposing to Roxana during a zookeeper tour in the zoo,” explains Terry. “With some brainstorming and a few phone calls and emails later, we decided to have the family participate on a Safari Quest. They would be split into two teams and the winner would be Kevin’s team. All winners of a Safari Quest win a t-shirt that reads: Miami Metrozoo’s Safari Quest Winner,” explains Terry, who suggested that Kevin’s shirt read “Will you marry me?” instead.  Of course, Kevin loved the idea!  So, to incorporate Kevin and Roxana’s love of animals, after the Safari Quest was completed, “we decided to have the ‘winners’ announced in front of the African elephant exhibit. The sisters would take a picture together in front of the exhibit and as the zookeepers distracted them with an elephant encounter, Kevin put on his ‘customized’ T-shirt and joined Roxana, where he got down on one knee and proposed. She was completely surprised and, of course, said ‘yes!’  Jake Crabtree, from SSA, had coordinated with Kevin to have champagne waiting at the elephant gazebo and the entire family celebrated. They had a lot to be thankful for, as Yoli was recently engaged, too,” said Terry.  Even Peggy the African elephant, seemed to be dancing with happiness!!

And now, let’s hear from Roxana.  “Kevin and I have worked together for six years now. About four years ago we had our first date in Santa Cruz, California. It was on the Santa Cruz boardwalk that Kevin decided that we should be a couple! Since then we’ve had a great time doing one of the things we love most – travelling. We’ve travelled to Mexico several times, cruised the Caribbean, taken a road trip down the California coast, travelled to Spain, and most recently to Miami – where had our most memorable trip yet. We have two dogs and really enjoy animals so it was only natural that the next journey we would take together would start at that Miami Metrozoo!“ 

And as Terry so passionately put it, “No matter how small or grand a special occasion or event is at Miami Metrozoo, it takes the entire team: Group Sales, Maintenance, Monorail, Horticulture, Security, Admission, Animal Science, SSA and ZSF to make it a memorable occasion for everyone! I’m blessed to work with the most dedicated and talented team that puts forth an extra effort in all they do, every day and for every event here in the zoo!”