New York’s exotic creatures were in great company at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Central Park Zoo Gala Benefit, which celebrated the opening of the Allison Maher Stern Snow Leopard Exhibit. The exhibit’s namesake and hubby Leonard Stern chaired the event, welcoming guests to an enchanting evening. Famed event designer Preston Bailey converted the zoo into a tropical fantasy under a tent festooned with large branches and leaves, and leading caterer Great Performances provided a 100-mile menu featuring organic and locally grown foods from nearby farms, allowing the elite to be one with nature—if just for one night.

Allison, along with many members of the benefit committee, created a jeweled menagerie for the evening, each carrying a Judith Leiber bag—the gala underwriter—all animal shaped minaudiere. Each lady selected a sparkling animal that revealed her personality and added even more glam to the magical evening. Guests including Cornelia and Marty Bregman, Jamee and Peter Gregory, Caroline Hirsch and Andrew Fox, Cynthia and Dan Lufkin, Dayssi and Paul Kanavos, Marcia and Richard Mishaan, Stephanie Krieger and Brian Stewart, Adrienne and Gigi Vittadini, Ann and Thomas Unterberg, Mia and Sheldon Solow, Christine and Carl Bernstein, Pamela Fiori, and Debbie Bancroft helped raise a whopping $1.8 mil to save the wildlife.