Warren and Ghislaine Iliff’s Ark

Before his passing in 2006, Warren Iliff served as executive director of the Phoenix Zoo from 1990 through 1996. A charismatic and gregarious personality, Warren connected people to nature throughout his life. In fact, that is why his wife, Ghislaine, first fell in love with him.

Their first date was memorable: Warren received a message about an emergency at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., and excused himself to call the zoo. When he returned, he told Ghislaine that a sick gorilla was getting worse and asked to end the date, so he could check on the primate. They both went to the zoo, where Warren and doctors struggled to keep the gorilla alive. “They were all in tears, and so was Warren, and I said to myself, that is a person who is after my own heart,” Ghislaine told the Long Beach Press-Telegram in 1996.

As a private helicopter pilot in Central America, Warren started a program to introduce people to diverse wildlife. His passion for animals continued when he returned to the United States. He was a longtime and highly respected member of the zoological community.

When visiting their home in Long Beach, one would see a collection of Noah’s Ark models, representing zoos’ collaboration for breeding programs to ensure species survival of some of the most endangered animals. During their time at the Zoo, they celebrated the Arabian oryx and black-footed ferret breeding programs, to name a few.

Warren believed his purpose was to protect animals, while providing an education to as many people who would listen. If a person couldn’t come to the Zoo, he would take an animal to them. When he heard his friend Nina Mason Pulliam couldn’t visit the Zoo, he brought a blue-mouthed skink to her, recalls ACNC Board Trustee, Harry Papp.

This year we also lost Ghislaine, but their legacy and love of animals will continue well beyond their lifetime with an estate gift to the Phoenix Zoo that will inspire and motivate people to care for the natural world.

To learn more about ways you, like the Iliffs, can make the Phoenix Zoo a part of your legacy, contact Liz Toth at 602.286.3881 or ltoth@phoenixzoo.org.