I worked on the LA Zoo account when
they first got involved with rescuing the
California Condor from the brink of
extinction through a captive breeding program.

Zoo fund-raising always benefits from picturing animals that tug at our hearts.  With this condor, however, there was just one problem....

This is what they look like.

So...instead of showing the face of this noble vulture, we pictured it flying... 

....where its massive wingspan made it look positively majestic.

For the cuteness hook, we included photos of the darlingest newborns in the zoo. 

AND - look who turned out to be on the zoo's board of directors, and happy to lend her endorsement...

Betty White!  She approved a fund-raising letter I ghost-wrote for her without changing a word :-D

Although our efforts were a small part of the condor recovery program, results have been exciting.  Twenty-five years ago, there were a mere 22 California Condors in the world. Today, they number around 400.