Tampa’s Lowry Park Celebrates Manatee Awareness Month with Unique Emoji Campaign

TAMPA, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Tampa’s
Lowry Park Zoo is taking an innovative approach to raising awareness
about the threats facing manatees, an iconic Florida species, by pushing
for the first-ever manatee emoji. In honor of Manatee Awareness Month,
the Zoo created a petition asking for the creation of a manatee emoji,
hoping that the campaign will inspire people to learn and get involved
in the protection of these gentle giants.

“Manatees are beloved across the country, but especially by Floridians,
so we’re hoping to capitalize on that affection with our awareness
campaign,” said Kristy Chase-Tozer, Vice President of Marketing and
Sales. “We are always looking for new ways to engage people with these
amazing animals. Developing a manatee emoji is a fun way to continue our
conversation about their need for protections.”

Emojis, a type of emoticon common on smartphones, continue to grow in
popularity. In fact, in 2015 Oxford English Dictionary declared one
emoji as their Word of the Year.

The Zoo’s petition hopes to leverage this popularity by convincing
Unicode, the nonprofit that regulates the universal coding for emojis,
that there is a sufficient demand for a manatee emoji. The goal of the
petition is to gain 25,000 signatures. For more information on the
petition and to sign it, click here: http://bit.ly/2edyw4W.

“As an organization dedicated to manatee conservation, we are also
charged with communicating the importance of this species to the rest of
the world,” said Dr. Larry Killmar, Chief Zoological Officer, Senior
Vice President, and Zoo Director. “If we are successful, a manatee emoji
could exist on every smartphone in the U.S. We can’t think of a better
way to connect with new audiences and spread affinity for manatees to
the public.”

Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo participates in a number of manatee rescues,
rehabilitation and relocations. To date, the Zoo has cared for more than
400 wild manatees, treating illness and injuries related to boat
strikes, cold stress, entanglement and red tide exposure. This care
occurs on-site at the Zoo’s David A. Straz Jr. Manatee Hospital, one of
the country’s only critical care hospitals for manatees.

The Zoo encourages the public to sign and share the manatee emoji
petition and to stay tuned for additional ways they can support manatee
conservation.

Contacts

Lowry Park Zoo
Donnie Gallagher, 813-935-8552 ext. 298
donnie.gallagher@lowryparkzoo.org