GATLINBURG, TN — Discover Life in America (DLiA) invites the public to the ninth annual Great Smoky Mountains Salamander Ball on Friday October 4th, 2019 from 4:30 – 7:30 PM at Zoo Knoxville. This is a family-friendly, fundraising event for DLiA, celebrating the diversity of life in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

This year’s Ball will feature hors d’oeuvres and wine, plus local beer from Elkmont Exchange, and music by local artist, and Grammy Award winner, Bill Mize. Bring the whole family dressed as your favorite Smokies critter or don’t dress up in costume at all. Kids and adults can learn about the plants and animals of the Smokies at our interactive science corners. Come early and visit the zoo, included with ticket purchase, before it closes at 4:00 PM. Get an early start on your holiday shopping as you participate in our extensive silent auction full of biodiversity-themed items, including many exciting experiences such as guided hikes, hotel stays, adventure packaged, and more.

Salamander Ball tickets are $75. Tables (a pack of 10 tickets) can be purchased for $700. Entry is free for kids 12 and under. Sponsorships for the event are also available! For more information and to purchase tickets, visit dlia.org/event/salamander-ball-2019. All proceeds from this event fund DLiA’s mission in the Smokies.

All proceeds from this event support Discover Life in America’s mission in the Smokies. Since its establishment in 1998, DLiA has been committed to discovering, understanding, and conserving biological diversity around the globe. Their flagship project, the All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI), aims to catalog every kind of plant, animal, and other organism inhabiting Great Smoky Mountains National Park. To date, the ATBI has discovered over 10,000 species in the park, including more than 1,000 new species to science, but there is much more to discover!

“The Smokies faces a number of outside threats from air pollution to over development,” said Todd Witcher, Executive Director of DLiA. “The ATBI is more than just identifying and counting species of life. It is about understanding habitats, ecosystems, and relationships between species. We know so little about the web of life, and so many species are disappearing forever. The more we understand about the natural world, the better equipped we are to preserve and maintain it.”