GULF SHORES, Ala. — Patti Hall, the director of the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo said, “just a minute,” and stepped into a cage with a serval. The medium-sized African cat was a constellation of spots and lines, and its upright ears had “eye spots” on the back that are designed by nature to frighten an animal approaching from the rear. Predators think the eye spots are eyes and they’ve been seen.

“This is Persia,” said Hall, introducing the cat. “She’s a sweetheart.”

The cat had no fear of Hall and behaved well on its leash, something that would surprise most cat owners.

Hall is right where she wants to be — with her beloved animals.

“Growing up in Ohio, I started out wanting to be a vet,” said Hall.

But, a Catholic school in the 1960s was not a place where a young girl could dream big. Hall says she was told that she was not going to be able to become a veterinarian.

“So I became an art major and a hippie,” laughed Hall.

An art project paining for a Louisville zoo made Hall realize that she wanted to work with animals and she volunteered for a variety of jobs in zoos. She was a volunteer at the Gulf Shores facility for several months before earning her present position.

Hall is particularly proud of the zoo’s “Animal Encounters” program. Animal Encounters enable zoo patrons, for an extra fee, to touch and hold popular zoo animals like Persia, lemurs, kangaroos, farm animals and yes, baby tigers.

The fees range from $1 per person for baby farm animals to $50 for adults with the tigers. It’s best to go to the zoo’s Web page, www.alabamagulfcoastzoo.org for complete information.

Hall went over to an enclosure where Tibet, a male and Shiva, a female, the zoo’s new snow-white Bengal tiger cubs are housed. The then-5-week-old cubs were balled up together in their bed, with Shiva sucking on Tibet’s head.

Hall said the cats were due for a bottle feeding soon. The cubs were unsteady on their feet, but Shiva shimmied up from a visitor’s arms to sniff, lick and otherwise “slime” her hair.

The tiger cubs are very strong, their coats are rough but soft, and yes, tigers purr. Both cubs made all sorts of noises and cat fanciers will be charmed and delighted.

The Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo was founded in 1989 by the Ward family as Zooland Animal Park, a tourist attraction, Hall says.

“Two years later, in 1991, the Ward family set up the Zoo Foundation, a 501(c)3 entity, and donated the land and the animals,” Hall said.

There are around 450 animals at the zoo now, says Hall, who has been at the zoo for 14 years.

Hall’s tenure there has been eventful.

The zoo was given the nickname, “The Little Zoo that Could” for its evacuation of the zoo during hurricanes Ivan, Dennis and Katrina. The zoo, with the help of a cadre of volunteers packed up the animals and took them to Hall’s home in northern Baldwin County.

The animals survived, but the zoo was devastated by the hurricanes. Chucky, the zoo’'s alligator mascot, had to be left behind and broke free of his lagoon during the after-Ivan flooding that followed, but was recovered unharmed. Chucky still calls the zoo home.

“We had our winter’s worth of capital in the bank in 2004,” said Hall. “Then Ivan came.”

Animal Planet documented the struggle, and there are a limited number of copies of the series for sale in the zoo’s gift shop.

Hall and the zoo staff rebuilt, but the desire to have a site that is safe from flooding and hurricanes hasn’t left.

That dream, Hall says, will be realized in the spring of 2012. A new zoo is being built on County Road 6 land donated by Clyde Weir and Andrea Weir Franklin, which is several miles inland from the current location. There will be more space and eventually more animals at the zoo, but the design of the new zoo is what has Hall excited.

“About two years ago, we were using 300 tons of food,” she said. “What goes in comes out.”

Dealing with the waste has been costly. But, the new zoo will have a way to deal with the waste.

“We are going to be using it and convert it to methane to run generators,” said Hall. “All the exhibits will have a water feature, and those features will be used to grow food. There will be windmills and solar panels and our designer says that we will probably be off the EMC grid.”

According to Hall, this will be the first “green zoo” designed to be ecologically conscious from the ground up. It’s important for the animals, but it’s also important for her.

“I have a passion and love for this work,” said Hall.