The Palm Beach Zoo's annual "Save the Tiger 5K" race this Saturday will honor the life of a beloved employee who was killed last month.
This year and going forward, the race will honor the memory of Stacey Konwiser, who died when she was attacked on April 15.
President & CEO Andrew Aiken said in a written statement that the annual event, now in its fourth year, will now be called "The Stacey Konwiser Memorial Save the Tiger 5K Run" in her memory.
Konwiser has been described by her co-workers as "bright, energetic and articulate" and devoted her life to studying large and small cats.
Aiken said this year's attendance for the race is up 35 percent so far.
In years past, the zoo sponsored its Save the Tiger Race -- along with two similar runs for jaguars and Florida panthers, collectively called the Big Cat Race Series.
The races have traditionally raised around $30,000 each year for conservation projects in Florida and abroad.
Proceeds from the Saturday race will go toward the Wildlife Conservation Society's Tiger Conservation project in the Endau-Rompin landscape of Malaysia, where the last remaining 250 wild Malayan tigers are struggling to survive.