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Black Bear among the trash

                  SWING                                          into naples zoo for                                                                                       Black Bear

                                                                 something new!






















                                                                                                                                                          How to Save Your HOA Five Million Dollars



                                                                                                                                          by Tim L. Tetzlaff, Director of Conservation, Naples Zoo at Caribbean Gardens

                                                                                                                                                                       id you know property owners     Given that people have been injured by bears in Florida, it
                                                                                                                                                                       can be held liable for not using   may be a good time to review policies for your HOA, business,
                                                                                                                                                                Dreasonable care to discover         or school and put educational programs and BearWise practices
                                                                                                                                                                dangerous conditions and to protect   in place for both the safety of families, pets, and the wellbeing
                                                                                                                                                                their guests from those conditions.   of bears – as well as the fiscal bottom line. How we handle our
                                                                                                                                                                Before you think I’ve taken off my   trash cans is one of the very most important.
                                                                                                                                                                conservation hat and hung out an       To make all that easier, Naples Zoo created
                                                                                                                                                                attorney’s shingle, this scenario is   www.floridabear.org which offers boilerplate documents for
                                                                                                                                                                relevant to our native wildlife. Not   your HOA to use along with an educational PowerPoint and
                                                                                                                                                                warning tenants, guests, or vacation   other resources crafted by someone who has actually passed
                                                                                                                                          renters about known wildlife activity and risks could potentially   the bar. There are similar resources to help with our other large
                                                                                                                                          have very costly implications should an injury occur.      native animal at www.thefloridapanther.org. Best yet, these
                                                                                                                                            Likewise, a homeowners’ association (HOA) can have a similar   sites also have resources to avoid conflict with native species in
                                                                                                                                          liability as to properties under its control. Without appropriate   the first place. It’s the proverbial ounce of prevention to avoid
                                                                                                                                          education or policies, HOAs could be held liable for a native   paying for the pound of cure – and helps you to never look at
                                                                                                                                          wildlife injury. And if the HOA liability insurance policy has   an injured family member, neighbor, or dog wishing somebody
                                                                                                                                          exclusions from coverage or caps on claims for these incidents,   would have done something. With these tools, you can be that
                                                                                                                                          homeowners can be responsible for making up the difference. That   somebody and provide this information to your HOA board
                                                                                                                                          means a lawsuit could result in special assessments being levied   and neighbors.
                                                                                                                                          on residents by the HOA to cover the additional costs – like those   Naples Zoo’s Director of Conservation is a member of the state’s
                                                                                                                                          levied to pay for extensive hurricane recovery. And this isn't a   Bear Technical Assistance Group. Since 2014, Naples Zoo has
                                                                                                                                          theory. An HOA and its property management company reached   invested over 3.5 million dollars in saving plants and animals in
                                                                                                                                          a $5 million settlement in a 2018 court case involving partial loss   the wild and fully funds the annual salaries of 27 field staff in seven
                                                                                                                                          of a limb caused by native wildlife, in that case a venomous snake.    countries including two wildlife veterinarians.
                                                                                                                                          Residents not being sufficiently warned about specific higher risks   www.napleszoo.org/conserve
                                                                                                                                          known on that HOA property posed by wildlife was a key factor
                                                                                                                                          in the decision.
                 For the first time in our 50-year history,
                 Naples Zoo welcomed four Bornean orangutans.

                 Visit today to meet these red-haired, great apes.



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