Mary Huse was a conservationist who passed down her love of animals to her daughter, Dorothy.

"We were that family - kind of Dr. Doolittle-ish," City Councilor Dorothy Dowe said. "We had up to seven animals in our 1,000-square-foot apartment growing up."

The story continued when Dowe and her husband chose to raise their own children near the Greenville Zoo, enjoying many trips there with their grandmother. Today another chapter was added to the story, the City Council accepted a $250,000 donation from the Robert Huse Foundation that bears her family's name.

The gift will be directed entirely to the renovation of the new Africa Plaza exhibit at the Greenville Zoo.

"Our family has had the honor of providing a gift to bring the Africa Plaza exhibit forward and named in honor of my mother, Mary Huse," Dowe said. "My mother was a lover of all animals and recognized how all animals are under threat in some way, shape or form; and how conservation is - and the part that this zoo plays in that conservation effort - is critical."

Part of the donation will help support the two Cape porcupines that recently arrived at the Zoo. The father-son duo, native to central and southern Africa, are being acclimated to their new environment before being put on public exhibit. The Africa Plaza also includes Masai giraffes and Aldabra giant tortoises.

A ribbon cutting for the new Mary H. Huse Africa Plaza will be scheduled later this fall, once all renovations are complete.