On Tuesday October 24th, the El Paso City Council unanimously approved Steve Marshall as the new Zoo Director. He'll officially start January 10th. During the interim, he will be working in China developing a public interpretive program for one of their Panda Breeding Centers. Mr. Marshall was recruited from Atlanta Georgia, where most recently he was the Chief Operating Officer at Zoo Atlanta and was responsible for overseeing major zoo functions and special projects. Prior to Zoo Atlanta, Mr. Marshall served as Executive Director of The Parks at Chehaw in Albany, Georgia.

He is excited to be coming on board as our Sun City's own Zoo is set to launch plans to build the African Savannah as part of the Western Expansion. The El Paso Zoo will become one of the premiere destinations in West Texas as it doubles in size from 18 acres to 36 acres, and brings lions, zebras and giraffes and other animals to the Borderland. The El Paso Zoo's expansion will contribute to the economic development of the city of El Paso, educate the community about conservation and positively affect the lives of hundreds of thousands of area residents

Mr. Marshall is a professional fellow of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and has been teaching at the Zoo and Aquarium professional management schools for 16 years. Before joining Chehaw, he held positions of Director of Interpretation at the Texas State Aquarium and Curator of Education at the Birmingham Zoo. He began his career as a teacher/naturalist at the Chattanooga Nature Center in Tennessee. Mr. Marshall received an undergraduate degree in biology at UTChattanooga and a master's degree in animal behavior at East Texas State University (now part of the Texas A&M system).

Congratulations to Steve Marshall on his successful completion of our recruitment process for Zoo Director. Our Staff is extremely fortunate to have an individual with his credentials as their new Director. I know that he will be an outstanding and successful leader in furthering the mission and goals of the Zoo and Society in the El Paso, National and International communities.
-Dr. LR Hutchinson, Interim Zoo Director