My Nonprofit Reviews

I have been a docent at the zoo since 2008. Each year I have donated between 800 and 1200 hours of volunteer time trying to educate people about wild animals. The time I have donated is the best time I have ever spent doing something I love. Working with the animals and talking about them to kids and adults re-energizes me about wild animals. It is one of the most self rewarding experiences I have ever had. If you love animals come join our group and help educate others on how important the animals are to our environment.

I have been a Docent at the Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Garden for over 8 years. I'm sorry that at least one person on this site has shown their ignorance of what zoos are all about. The CFZ is one of the best run and best kept zoos I have ever seen. They do NOT force their animals to be on exhibit just to please the human race. The CFZ specializes in caring for endangered and threatened species. They are classified as that because of ignorant and non-caring humans. Everybody at the zoo cares deeply for the animals and they all work very hard to make sure the animals get the best of care. They don't work hard because the pay is great. It isn't. Every aspect of the animals care, whether it is their surroundings, comfort, environment, food, health, or mental state, is taken into consideration. The least important job of the zoo is entertaining people. While we try to do that in order to raise money to care and feed the animals our job is to protect the different species under our care and when possible to breed species that are threatened or endangered so the world will always be able to see and enjoy them. We also try to educate the general population about the animals through our education department which does a splendid job in doing just that. We travel to school, libraries, retirement centers, churches, summer camps and other events in trying to educate the general population. These same organizations also send groups to the zoo for educational purposes. The Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Garden is the best.