Speaker Series

Take a deeper look into worldwide conservation issues with Zoo Miami's Wild Tales speaker series

Wild Tales with Ron Magill

Ron has worked with wildlife for over 40 years. He is the host of HITN’s national wildlife documentary program, “Mundo Salvaje con Ron Magill.” As Zoo Miami’s "Goodwill Ambassador," he has made frequent television appearances on many programs, including "National Geographic Explorer," the Discovery Networks, "The Today Show," "Good Morning America," "The Late Show," "CBS This Morning," "Dateline," and "CNN," as well as on Spanish networks Univision and Telemundo. In addition, he is a Nikon USA Ambassador and has written and produced many wildlife articles and award-winning photographs that have appeared in publications and galleries around the world. He has traveled extensively throughout Africa, Asia, and Tropical America while developing and directing conservation projects and Emmy Award-winning documentaries focusing on the wildlife of those regions.

Date: Thursday, April 25, 2024

Where: Zoo Miami's Florida Room

Time: 6:30 p.m.

Cost: $10 for members / $20 for non-members

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Wild tales With Dr. Xiomara GÁlvez

Dr. Xiomara Gálvez was the director of endangered birds for Cuba’s Empresa Nacional para la Protección de la Flora y Fauna (National Agency for Protection of Plants and Wildlife) for 30 years before retiring in 2006 to Mexico. Dr. Gálvez’s work concentrated on preserving the coastal habitats of the flamingo, sandhill crane, Cuban parrot, woodpeckers and hawks in Cuba. In 2009, she moved to Merida, Mexico and began to concentrate on publishing both scientific articles and two books while also promoting a private, 400 hectare nature preserve in the Komchén community north of Merida, the Komchén de los Pajaros (Komchén of the Birds). In 2016, she founded the non-profit, Caribbean Coast Conservancy, that concentrates on the conservation of biodiversity of coastal and jungle ecosystems within insular Mexico and the Caribbean using the American flamingo as a flagship species.

Dr. Gálvez will be speaking about conserving the American flamingo and the ecosystems that it is found in. Even though the total numbers of flamingos within the Caribbean has grown since they reached dangerously low numbers in the early to mid-1900s, Dr. Gálvez will explain how this apparent recovery gives a false sense of security for the species since much of their remaining foraging and breeding habitats are under pressures of development, exploitation, and climate change.

Date: Thursday, May 9, 2024

Where: Zoo Miami Florida Room

Time: 6:30 p.m.

Cost: $10 for members / $20 for non-members

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