The people paying for this
A zoo before it opens has no gate money. What it has is a small number of people who decided the idea was worth backing before there was anything to show them.
They are on this page because being here is the thing they were promised, and because a nonprofit that names who funds it is easier to trust than one that does not.
Sponsorship levels
Six sponsorship levels, and what each one gets you
Your sponsorship helps the zoo educate, inspire and conserve. Every level includes everything in the level below it, levels in between are available, and the zoo will build one around what you actually want to fund.
-
Alligator Legacy Partner $3,000
Make a powerful impact and leave a legacy that inspires generations.
At this level: Joseph Patinio Jr.
- Everything in Tortoise, plus:
- Premier logo placement at the zoo
- Ten complimentary zoo passes
- A private tour and meet-and-greet with the team
-
Tortoise Preserver $2,000
Steady support for long-term impact and enduring change.
Open
- Everything in Ball Python, plus:
- Logo on the event banner
- Six complimentary zoo passes
- Recognition in press releases
-
Ball Python Advocate $1,000
Helping the zoo educate, conserve and inspire its community.
Open
- Everything in Chameleon, plus:
- Logo on printed materials
- Four complimentary zoo passes
- Invitation to the exclusive Sponsor Night
-
Chameleon Conservation Partner $500
Adaptable support for a changing world.
Open
- Everything in Leopard Gecko, plus:
- Logo on the website
- Quarterly social media spotlight
- Two complimentary zoo passes
-
Leopard Gecko Supporter $250
Helping the zoo grow strong and make a difference every day.
Open
- Everything in Tree Frog, plus:
- Name on digital signage at the zoo
- Recognition in one event program
-
Tree Frog Friend of the Zoo $100
Small gift, big impact. Every jump starts a ripple of change.
At this level: the people and businesses listed below.
- Name on the website donor wall
- Social media thank you
- Newsletter recognition
Sponsors · Legacy Partner
The zoo’s first Alligator sponsor
The top of the ladder, and the largest single gift the zoo has taken so far. Every contribution at this level brings the zoo closer to opening its doors, and pays for the things a collection needs long before a single visitor walks through them.
Joseph Patinio Jr.
Alligator Sponsor · Legacy PartnerThanked publicly by the zoo in September 2026, in its own words: extraordinary generosity that is helping bring the vision to life and creating a lasting impact for generations to come.
Sponsorship at this level is what a zoo runs on before it has a gate. It buys enclosures, heating, veterinary care and food for animals that are already here and already being kept properly, in the years before anybody can buy a ticket to see them.
Sponsors · Friend of the Zoo
Backing it before it opened
Everybody here came in at the Tree Frog level, when the zoo was a plan and a collection rather than a building. It was the founding level and it is still the one most people start on.
Sheila Ledesma
Tree Frog Sponsor
Linda Pelaez
Tree Frog Sponsor
Anthony Florian
Tree Frog Sponsor
Stephanie Hancock
Tree Frog Sponsor
Joseph & Patricia Patinio
Tree Frog SponsorsThe zoo’s founders, and its CEO and secretary. Their roles.
Several of them also sit on the board, which is worth saying out loud rather than leaving somebody to notice. The people asking Las Vegas to fund this zoo were the first ones to fund it themselves.
Next Gen Sponsors
Some of the sponsors here are children
Pocket money, birthday money, and in a couple of cases money that was meant for something else. They are the reason the phrase "next generation of conservationists" is not just something written on a poster here.
Peaches Golden
Next Gen Sponsor
Dennis Golden Jr
Next Gen Sponsor
Shai Golden
Next Gen SponsorTo any parent reading this
Your child is here because they sponsored this zoo and the zoo thanked them for it. If you would rather they were not listed on a public website, say so and they come down the same day. You do not have to give a reason and nobody will ask for one.
Four things every gift pays for
Educate
School programs that go out across the valley, and an animal paired with the specific pressure its species is under rather than a fact on a card.
Conserve
Managed breeding of species running out of room in the wild, so captive-bred animals reduce the demand pulling wild ones out.
Inspire youth
The children who come through a program and stop being frightened. It is the least measurable thing the zoo does and the reason most of it happens.
Protect endangered species
Permanent, species-appropriate homes for animals that cannot be released, were surrendered, or came out of the trade.
Sponsor one animal instead
Rather than a level, you can take a single animal. Sponsorship covers that animal's food, heating, veterinary care and enclosure for a year, and your name goes on its page rather than into a list.
It is the version people understand fastest, because there is no ambiguity about where the money went. You can see the animal, and the page that thanks you is the page about it.
Partner organizations, and why they matter more than money
A collection this size cannot run a breeding program, a veterinary service, a rescue network and an education department out of one building. What it can do is work with the people who already do each of those things well.
Veterinary
Exotic veterinary care is the cost and the capability that most often catches a small collection out. A practice that treats reptiles and amphibians properly is the single most important outside relationship this organization has.
Rescue and rehoming
We cannot take every animal offered to us, because space and quarantine decide that. A working relationship with rescues and other keepers is what turns our no into somebody else's yes instead of a dead end.
Other collections and breeders
Captive breeding only takes pressure off wild populations if the animals produced are healthy, correctly identified and genetically sensible. That requires other keepers, shared records and honest paperwork.
Schools and libraries
Education partners are how the collection reaches people who would never come looking for it. A standing relationship with a district or a library system is worth more than any number of one-off bookings.
Companies backing the zoo
Goldchain DAO LLC
Sponsored the specialty drink at the 21 September fundraiser at KJ’s Social.
BT Marketing
Designed and built this site, and hosts and maintains it for the zoo.
Corporate partnership
Sponsor an enclosure, an animal or a school program as a business. Your name sits on the page for the thing you paid for rather than in a list nobody scrolls to.
If a sponsor is missing from this page
Somebody who gave and is not listed here has been let down, and it is the kind of mistake that is easy to make and easy to fix. Tell us and it is corrected the same day, whether that means adding a name, changing a level, or taking a name down.