Lowry Park Zoological Society Of Tampa, Inc.

Lowry Park Zoological Society of Tampa, Inc., operating as Lowry Park Zoo, is a tax-exempt nonprofit organization based in Tampa, Florida, that receives federal grant funding to support manatee rescue, rehabilitation, and veterinary training, as well as education and early-learning programs aligned with museum and cultural institution missions. The organization acts exclusively as a prime grant recipient across six federal agencies, with no federal contract prime or subcontract work in the source data.

Lowry Park Zoo's federal footprint centers on the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and the Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service Region 9. IMLS has awarded three project grants totaling $2.041 million for museum professional development and public program work: a $1.043 million award (October 2025–September 2028) under the 21st Century Museum Professional Program (CFDA 45.032) to develop and deliver a Behavior Monitoring Virtual Internship Program training 96 undergraduate students in animal behavior and husbandry across six terms; an $875 thousand award (September 2026–August 2029) under the Museums for America program (CFDA 45.301) to manage a two-year post-doctoral fellowship in zoological medicine and manatee critical care, including U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service manatee critical care certification training; and a $122 thousand award (November 2021–October 2022) under the National Leadership Grants program to deliver hybrid online and in-person early learning support through virtual story times, nature activity kits, and free zoo admission for approximately 450 participating families in the Tampa area.

Fish and Wildlife Service Region 9 has funded four manatee rescue and rehabilitation grants totaling approximately $2.2 million over the past two years. The most recent award, a $243 thousand project grant (August 2024–July 2026) under the Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Program (CFDA 15.683), provides 50% funding for two existing full-time manatee stranding response positions and 100% funding for an additional part-time 27-hour position, along with a field response vehicle and boat to enhance support for Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission manatee stranding operations and the zoo's David A. Straz, Jr. Manatee Critical Care Center. A prior $243 thousand award (July 2023–June 2025) under the same program supported manatee veterinarian training and certification capacity development. Two earlier Prescott grants (August 2022–July 2024) funded field response team expansion and manatee critical care operations.

Recent annual award activity has remained steady at one award per year from 2022 through 2026, with one recompete opportunity in the next twenty-four months. The organization does not compete on federal contract vehicles and carries no federal contract or IDV positions.