Former Dolphins Cheerleader Takes To The Jungles Of Africa

By Andy Kent

Somewhere deep in the jungles of the African Congo is the last place you’d expect to find a former Miami Dolphins cheerleader, but that is precisely where Mireya Mayor recently joined members of the Wildlife Conservation Society on an expedition to study a population of wild gorillas in danger of becoming extinct.
 
Mayor, who entertained Dol-Fans from 1992-96 from the sidelines performing difficult dance and cheer routines, received her doctorate in anthropology from Stony Brook University. She is a dedicated primatologist who became a staff wildlife correspondent in 1999 for National Geographic and her highly anticipated series, “Mystery Gorillas,” premieres Monday night at 10 on the new network Nat Geo WILD.
 
“The radio and television interviews leading up to the premiere of this series have definitely gotten a little bit easier since I’ve been dabbling in science and TV for more than 10 years,” said Mayor, who was studying to be a lawyer at the University of Miami before her career path took a dramatic turn. “I was doing research and conservation long before TV, but the fact that I’m able to use media as an outlet for people to learn about these animals and conservation projects around the world is fantastic.”
 
Mayor grew up an avid an of the Dolphins in Miami as the daughter of Cuban immigrants and though she always loved animals growing up, she had no inkling that she would eventually live in the forests and jungles of foreign lands without being able to shower for weeks at a time. It wasn’t until she took an anthropology course at UM, and specifically the part of the course that dealt with primates and their fight for survival in particular, when a passion was ignited inside of her and she wanted to learn more about how she could help.
 
Of course Mayor also was juggling her studies with her duties as cheerleader for the Dolphins at this time, during which she would get dolled up for rehearsal by having her hair and nails done and makeup applied. None of her teammates could have imagined that the beautiful and curvaceous blonde with the model’s build and looks was preparing herself for a life sleeping on the dirt floor of a jungle in the rain, venturing into parts unknown where most humans were afraid to go.
 
“Just before a cheerleading rehearsal I found myself watching “Gorillas In The Mist,” (the 1988 movie about scientist Dian Fossey starring Sigourney Weaver) thinking, that’s it, that’s what I want to do. And then I headed off to cheerleader practice,” Mayor said. “It’s funny because there was no transition. I literally cheered at my last game (Dec. 16, 1996 against the Buffalo Bills) and left for one of the most remote, unexplored areas of South America (Guyana) like the following week – and I had never been camping before.
 
“I really just knew that that’s what I wanted to do and I was inspired by Dian Fossey’s story in that she had no previous experience either. So I felt like I can do it too then, because it was very unlikely for a cheerleader to want to head off to the jungle. When you’re cheering it’s so much about how people think of it as a very glamorous job. You’re getting your hair styled and you’re makeup done and suddenly you’re in the middle of the jungle with no electricity or running water for even a bath, so they’re polar opposites of each other.”
 
Mayor became a cheerleader because she really loved football and thought it was a great way to go to games. She loved being a cheerleader, which is why she stayed on so long, and she speaks highly of how close the cheerleaders are and how tight of a sorority it is. But Mayor also knew she couldn’t be a cheerleader forever, and now she is immersed in what has become her life’s work, even though initially on that trip to Guyana she had some second thoughts and wondered about returning to cheerleading.
 
This past Friday, Mayor appeared on ABC’s “Nightline,” during which excerpts of “Mystery Gorillas” were shown, including the one that shows a 350-pound male silverback gorilla charging her when she gets too close. In another excerpt, a very large bull elephant threatens Mayor and her team and they have to sprint through the woods to safety.
 
“I have literally gone into the ‘Heart of Darkness” in Africa and I’ve gone to some very remote areas, not only in Africa but in Madagascar and South America,” she said. “I think that’s sort of where I love to be is the places that are far from being explored and known because I love bringing that to the world’s attention. It’s like being one of the original explorers I learned so much about. Going into these places and bringing that out for the first time is exciting.”
 
It was that explorer’s mentality that helped Mayor to earn two Emmy Award nominations in 2005 for her work on the television series, “Ultimate Explorer,” and two years later she was named an “Emerging Explorer” by the National Geographic Society. In addition to earning her PhD, she is a Fulbright scholar, National Science Foundation Fellow and published author who still calls Miami home with her husband, Roland, and their two young daughters, Emma and Ava.
 
With this current exposure being generated by her new series and appearances on “Nightline” and “Inside Edition,” Mayor is hoping to draw more attention to the plight of the silverback gorillas. She wants to succeed in getting her message across the same way she used to succeed in getting fans at Dolphins football games fired up and into the game.
 
“I think that the message is there is still so much that we don’t know about the natural world, and gorillas in particular are these beautiful, intelligent and social animals that are in danger of becoming extinct because of habitat destruction,” Mayor said. “I always tell people that there’s so much that they can do here from their own homes. They don’t have to travel across the globe to make a difference. Little things like conserving water and unplugging stuff from electrical outlets, all of these little things add up and make a difference.
 
“These primates also are in constant danger from poachers and hunters because gorillas have been hunted for centuries. It’s real difficult and I’ve come face-to-face with poachers that killed gorillas. When you get to know these animals as individuals you know that each one of them serves a different role in the group and they each have a very different personality and the babies cannot survive without their moms. One dead gorilla destroys an entire gorilla group and that’s a tough fact to face.”
 
Mayor’s next project will actually take place in her own backyard – literally – as she will be filming another series for Nat Geo WILD called “Wild Nights,” which is taking a look at urban wild life as well as human wild life. Her first two episodes were shot in Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans, and on this shoot she will expose some of the urban wild life that roams the streets of South Florida in the late hours. She will also highlight the behavior of people on Ocean Drive in South Beach and this series will air sometime in the fall.
 
Visit Mayor’s personal web page, www.mireyamayor.com or follow her on Twitter at twitter@mireyamayor.com and she will answer any and all questions about her television series and her continuing expeditions.