ZOO KNEW: The Coovert Foundation, Wells Fargo Advisors, St. Louis businessman Jay Henges and Ian Craig of the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, were presented with major awards from the St. Louis Zoo at the zoo’s recent Marlin Perkins Society dinner at the Ritz Carlton.

Henges got the zoo’s Individual Award in recognition of his service as a zoo trustee from 1993 to 2004, and as a commissioner since 2001. Henges and his wife, Carolyn, are 16-year members of the Marlin Perkins Society. Henges also serves on the Missouri Department of Conservation Commission. He is an outdoorsman and an advocate for wildlife conservation.

The zoo’s Corporate Award was given to Wells Fargo Advisors, which - along with its predecessor organizations - has been a 16-year member of the Perkins society and a participant in the zoo’s annual fundraising events. The corporation’s most recent contribution was Wachovia Wells Fargo Foundation’s pledge of $2.5 million to fund the South Arrival Experience at the zoo. The zoo also said it is grateful for the involvement of the company’s employees over the years as leaders of the board and as zoo members.

The Coovert Foundation received the zoo’s Foundation Award in thanks for the group’s support for more than 25 years. The Coovert Foundation has underwritten the fundraising events, A Zoo Ado and ZOOFARI, for many years, and recently made a gift to the rhino viewing area in the River’s Edge exhibit. Isabelle Coovert, a trustee for the foundation, has been a Marlin Perkins Society member for 16 years and has served on zoo committees. Her son Sander Coovert Jr. has served on the Young Zoo Friends Association and is now a member of the zoo association’s board of directors.

Ian Craig, strategic advisor of the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Northern Rangelands Trust and Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya, was given the zoo’s Conservation Award. Craig began running Lewa Downs, his parents’ cattle ranch in northern Kenya, in 1977. Since then he has become a major catalyst in saving the Grevy’s zebra, black rhino and other wildlife species close to extinction. The zoo began working with the wildlife conservancy in 1997 to preserve the Grevy’s Zebra.