Win free Frontier Airlines flights during Florida wildlife campaign

Frontier Airlines and Visit Orlando are launching the “Who is Orlando’s Most Loved Animal?” promotion, where animal lovers can vote for their favorite Florida animal while also earning a chance to win free Frontier Airlines flights to Orlando.

All Frontier Airlines plane tails feature an animal with a name and a backstory, so the free flight giveaway is designed to highlight some of Florida’s iconic animal species and conservation efforts. Through a partnership with the Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens, Gatorland, Sea Life Orlando Aquarium, and Wild Florida, participants can choose from among resident animals from the four Orlando wildlife parks and preserves to determine which animal will adorn the tail of a new Frontier Airlines aircraft.

All four attractions allow visitors to view unique Florida wildlife and observe conservation efforts to protect various animal species. Each of the animals featured in the campaign has either been rescued or is part of a species preservation program by the organization it represents.

Representing the Central Florida Zoo is Ella, the Florida black bear; representing Gatorland is Larry, the alligator; representing Sea Life Aquarium is Ted, the loggerhead turtle; and representing Wild Florida is Flurry, the albino alligator.

Let’s get to know the contestants:

Ella is a seven-year-old, 260-pound Florida Black Bear. She was born in the wild, but she and a sibling were illegally removed from the state as cubs and were found living in a home with humans. Because they were accustomed to humans, the cubs could not return to the wild, so the zoo provided a home for the bears at the Florida Black Bear Habitat and Bear Awareness Exhibit.

Larry, the American alligator, was living in the wild at The Villages retirement community in Central Florida and was so popular with the residents he even had his own Facebook page. Unfortunately, people were illegally feeding him, which could lead to a dangerous situation, so Gatorland stepped in, and Larry now resides in the park’s main lake.

Ted, the loggerhead turtle, is a rescue turtle who was released multiple times back into the wild; however, he was not displaying behavior consistent with survival on his own, so Sea Life Orlando Aquarium has become his forever home. Ted’s name is an acronym for “Turtle Excluder Device,” an escape hatch in fishing nets to allow turtles to escape if they are accidentally trapped. Ted, the turtle, was one of the first turtles to test the TED device and played an important role in pioneering a technology to help protect the endangered sea turtle species.

Flurry the albino alligator, and his siblings are the only albino gators ever hatched at a facility open to the public. Albino alligators are extremely rare (there are only about 100 in the U.S.). Flurry’s parents, Blizzard and Snowflake — also albino gators — had spent years trying to generate offspring and finally, in 2019, produced a large clutch of eggs that led to the birth of Flurry and three siblings. By sharing Flurry’s story, Wild Florida hopes to convert the fear of alligators into adoration for one of nature’s most incredible animals.