After dinner the main course there was an auction conducted by Jamie Niven who raised $100,000 between four couples who bought the right to name their own Bison Herd. That’ll be some name. And after dessert, the junior set joined the festitivities – almost 1000 people, men in suits, young women in dressy or long dresses, with cocktails and canapés around the Sea Lion Pool again and then dancing to the spins of Tom Finn. I checked out just about that time as they were streaming in. It was the perfect weather for nighttime party in the park surrounded by the Manhattan towers through the trees.

The rain moved on yesterday in New York. By late afternoon the clouds had cleared away for the sunny blue sky. This was a good thing. At 64th Street and Fifth Avenue, it was appreciated for the fact that last night was the Wildlife Conservation Society’s annual fund raising gala which this year was called “SAFARI! The American West” celebrating the American West and the 100th anniversary of the American Bison Society which along with the WCS, saved the bison from extinction.

Hundreds of years ago, hundreds of thousands of bison roamed the West. The arrival of the Europeans to settle in the early 17th century was the death knell for the beasts although it was more than a century before that materialized. By the third quarter of the 19th century, the migration of these Europeans towards the shores of the Pacific plundered the lands of the bison and their human neighbors, the Native Americans.

By the beginning of the 20th century, there were less than 1000 bison left. In 1905, William Hornaday, director of the Bronx Zoo, along with President Theodore Roosevelt and others created the American Bison Society. Two years later 15 members of the Bronx Zoo went out to Oklahoma and got started restoring the specie. I don’t know the number but there are now thousands of bison inhabiting roaming areas of the West.

The work of the wildlife conservationists is as crucial as that of the nature conservationists, the environmentalists and ecologists. It is directly to the survival of our own specie. The WCS saves wildlife and wild lands worldwide. They do it through science, global conservation, education and the management of the world’s largest system of urban wildlife parks, led by the flagship Bronx Zoo. Their activities can and do change attitudes toward nature and help people imagine wildlife and humans living harmoniously.

Last night more than 650 supporters gathered for the black tie dinner, auction and dancing. They raised more than $1.1 million. They honored Mary and Howard Phipps Jr. Mrs. Phiupps is the Chairman of the Board of Old Westbury Gardens, a former Phipps residence. She is also a Director of the Girl Scout Council of Greater New York. Mr. Phipps, known as Howdy to his friends, is a Wildlife Conservation Society Chairman Emeritus. He’s been a Trustee of the WCS since 1961.

The cocktails were held, as they always are, by the Sea Lion Pool with the sea lions energetically in residence. Their presence was assisted by some of the zoo’s newcomers: Nachman the wallaby, Veta the fennec fox, Zach the cockatoo, Lucy the monitor lizard and Frankie the sloth.