Jennifer Ortega spent more than a decade working her way through the news industry, first as a writer at her hometown paper in Boca Raton, and then as a reporter and anchor in television markets across the country.
There were stops in Florida, Mississippi, Nebraska and most recently in California, where she could be seen nightly on KSEE24 and CBS47.
But Ortega said goodbye to the stations in December to pursue a different career path; one with substantially more animals, but a few journalists still.
She is now working as Senior Communications Manager with the Fresno Chaffee Zoo.
“I’m a lifelong lover of wild places and wild things,” Ortega told The Bee on Tuesday.
“I’ve gotten to a place in my career where I’m ready for a change, and the obvious choice for me was the Fresno Chaffee Zoo.”
As a child in south Florida, Ortega says she always loved caring for animals. She remembers her childhood dog Prince — and convincing her parents to get him a friend because she thought he was lonely and needed company.