Every year on International Women’s Day, we celebrate the strength, leadership and impact of women around the world. At Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance, women play a vital role in advancing our animal care and conservation efforts in Colorado and beyond.  

Katelyn Stache, Dr. Kate Wilkins and Lora Gillock each bring expertise, dedication, compassion and love to their work. From caring to animals on campus to supporting conservation efforts in the field, their efforts help the animals in our care thrive while helping protect wildlife and wild places worldwide.  

And while they lead with love every day, your support magnifies their impact. Your donation to DZCA elevates the work of women in animal care and conservation and helps protect wildlife and habitats for generations to come.  

Katelyn Stache | Loving Lions at DZCA and Around the World

As Assistant Curator of Carnivores, Katelyn Stache oversees the daily care and long-term management of the carnivores that call DZCA home. From individualized care plans to collaborating with our Animal Health, Animal Care and Africa Conservation teams, her work centers on ensuring each carnivore in our care, including our beloved pride of lion ladies, can thrive.  

Katelyn first dreamed of working with lions after seeing them in the wild, where their social bonds and cooperation left a lasting impact. Now, she works with four generations of strong female lions at DZCA. One lion in particular, Kamara, has an extra special place in her heart. Fierce and feisty from just two days old, Kamara was the first litter Katelyn worked with at the beginning of her career. Nearly ten years later, Kamara is now a mom to two cubs and became a grandma with our latest of cub quartet born last year.  

Over the last decade, Katelyn and Kamara have built a trusting relationship. Through positive reinforcement training, Kamara voluntarily participates in aspects of her medical care, even allowing a nail trim behavior to help support her daily care. Katelyn never thought she’d be doing lion “pedicures,” but that level of trust reflects the patience, respect and deep understanding required to care for such intelligent, social animals.  

But our pride’s impact extends far beyond DZCA’s campus.  

With fewer than 20,000 lions remaining in the wild, populations face serious threats like habitat loss and human-wildlife conflict. DZCA is proud to partner with the Kyambura Lion Monitoring Project (KLMP), part of the Volcanoes Safaris Partnership Trust in Uganda, to support monitoring wild lions and promoting coexistence between local communities and wildlife.  

Through this partnership, and through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan, our lions serve as ambassadors for their wild counterparts, helping build awareness and support for vital conservation efforts around the world.  

For Katelyn, seeing meaningful conservation work in action and seeing guests connect deeply with our pride, gives her hope that future generations will continue advocating for their protection.  

Support continued lion conservation efforts. Your donation supports expert animal care at DZCA and vital lion conservation efforts in Uganda. 

Dr. Kate Wilkins | Restoring Colorado’s Grasslands  

As Great Plains Conservation Program Director at DZCA, Dr. Kate Wilkins leads efforts to conserve and restore one of the most overlooked, and most threatened, ecosystems in the world: grasslands. 

Right here in Colorado, Kate and her team work to protect the wildlife that depends on these landscapes while restoring the ecological processes that keep them healthy. This year, that includes supporting a bison reintroduction to return this iconic species to its native range. Her team is also developing a rainbow scarab dung beetle reintroduction program, a small but mighty species that plays a critical role in soil health and nutrient cycling. 

Kate believes that successful grassland conservation depends on helping communities care about these ecosystems. Her team leads hands-on restoration projects with staff, students and volunteers—from building rock structures to reduce erosion to maintaining public demonstration gardens. By reconnecting people to grasslands, she’s helping build long-term stewardship for the future. 

Grasslands may not always get the spotlight, but they are essential to our ecosystems! There are more than 10,000 species of grass worldwide, over 300 in Colorado alone, and many of the foods we rely on every day, including corn, rice, wheat and oats, come from grasses. Protecting grasslands means protecting biodiversity, food systems, and climate resilience. 

For Kate, conservation is about restoring landscapes and building relationships. She knows that conservation exists when we create opportunities for learning, elevating diverse voices, and empowering the next generation of conservation leaders. 

Lora Gillock | A Love Story 20 Years in the Making  

For the past 20 years, Lora Gillock has poured her heart—and her expertise—into the Animal Ambassador program at DZCA. As an Animal Care Specialist, she has dedicated two decades to helping guests connect with wildlife in meaningful, memorable ways, both on campus and out in the community. Her work reflects not only deep passion, but also specialized knowledge in animal behavior, training and welfare. 

At the center of many of those connections is Jazz, a 27-year-old hyacinth macaw with a big personality and an even bigger fan club. 

Jazz’s journey to DZCA began as a former pet in need of a new home. Parrots like Jazz are highly intelligent, long-lived and incredibly social animals with complex physical and behavioral needs. Without substantial expertise, time and resources, they can be challenging to care for—which is why many parrots are ultimately relinquished to shelters. 

In Jazz’s case, DZCA was able to step up and provide the specialized care Jazz needed to thrive.  Over the years, Lora and the rest of the Ambassador team used their knowledge to build an extraordinary bond with her through patience, trust and positive reinforcement training. Jazz may not be able to fly, but she shines in her own way. Guests are captivated with her charisma and reminded that every animal, like every person, has unique abilities and strengths. 

Through the Animal Ambassador program, Lora has introduced Jazz to thousands of people — from school classrooms and libraries to community events, Rockies games and even legislators at the Colorado Capitol. These up-close encounters spark curiosity, joy and help build empathy. And that spark often grows into something more: a deeper commitment to protecting wildlife, whether it’s parrots in South America or birds right here in Colorado. 

After 20 years, Lora’s dedication reflects that conservation is truly love in action. She has shown up every day with expertise, patience, passion and a belief that one meaningful connection can change how someone sees the natural world.  

You can help ensure animals like Jazz receive the specialized care they need. Support our Animal Ambassador program and the expert teams that make it all possible. Your donation helps provide lifelong care, training and conservation education that inspires lasting action.  

Conservation is Love in Action 

From caring for lions and restoring grasslands to daily moments of inspiration with guests, Katelyn, Kate and Lora show us that conservation is rooted in compassion, dedication and love. Their work highlights that protecting wildlife thrives on relationships, trust and showing up every day with love for animals and the natural world.  

This International Women’s Day, you can support the women leading important animal care and conservation efforts. When you support DZCA, you help support our animal care, conservation work and education programs that protect wildlife near and far. Together, we can turn love into a lasting impact.