Pauley Perrette of ‘NCIS’ honored at L.A. Zoo’s 43rd Beastly Ball

Pauley Perrette was honored Saturday night by the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Assn. as part of its 43rd annual Beastly Ball fundraiser among the animals, under the stars.

The “NCIS” star, pictured above with a hedgehog that’s even cuter than her costar Mark Harmon, did a meet-and-greet at the evening’s pre-party soiree before being honored with the Tom Mankiewicz Leadership Award.

Perrette, affiliated with myriad nonprofits including Habitat for Humanity, the NOH8 Campaign and Petfinder.com, helped create the “Meet the Keepers” video presentation now playing at the Elephants of Asia exhibit, in addition to other work for the zoo.

She tweeted pics from the event, including one of her with a snake and another with longtime L.A. Zoo supporter Betty White.

Also on hand were longtime White’s “Hot in Cleveland” costar Valerie Bertinelli, writer Lisa Ling and comedian Jimmy Pardo, who handled the live auction. White was the group’s inaugural Mankiewicz honoree in 2010. Slash got the spotlight in 2011, and Sarah Michelle Gellar was recognized in 2012.

The Ball is GLAZA’s biggest fundraiser of the year, with more than 1,000 people attending. This year’s event raised $1,138,000, the organization said.

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