As a non-profit organization, your donations continue to provide world-class care for all our animals, including keeping them extra cool and comfortable all season long.  

If you hadn’t gathered from the name, Flock Party was originally inspired by our beloved flock of American and Chilean flamingos. Can you blame us? They’re fabulous! But when we refer to our dress code as “Pink Tie,” don’t take us TOO literally. There’s a brilliant spectrum of colors and patterns in the natural world—when choosing your outfit, let nature be your guide!

Back By Popular Demand: Flash Portraits  

 
Fashion illustrator Elle Powell will be joining us once again for flash portraits!  
Meet us in Wildlife Plaza to have your Flock Party ‘fit immortalized in pencil and paint.  
Portraits are first-come, first-served and are included with your Flock Party admission. 

With more than a million species in danger of extinction worldwide, many due to devastating habitat loss, zoo-based conservation has become an essential component of long-term species survival. As an Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)-accredited institution, Denver Zoo has long participated in the Species Survival Plan (SSP) to ensure genetic diversity in wildlife bred under human care. But as an urban campus with a finite 80-acre geographic footprint, the space we can utilize to make a significant impact has been historically limited—until now.

Spanning 570 acres in Weld County, Colorado, the Lembke Family Preserve will allow Denver Zoo to dramatically evolve both our animal care and conservation breeding practices. 

Phase 1: Holding + Breeding

A recognized industry leader in both animal care and conservation breeding, Denver Zoo is already doing important work on our main campus; imagine what we can do with nearly 7X the space! In PHASE 1 of the Lembke Family Preserve, we’ll be able to expand our current SSP efforts, with more space for our growing animal families as well as the potential to add new species to our program. We’ll also gain greater holding capacity as well as temporary relocations for habitat maintenance or renovation.

Phase 2: Research + Reintroduction

In phase two, the Zoo plans to transform the facility into a conservation center focused on conservation breeding and wild reintroduction of species that are threatened or endangered in Colorado and beyond. The center, both a physical satellite campus and the philosophical heart of present and future conservation collaborations, will allow Denver Zoo to make a more meaningful impact on the future of regionally Threatened and Endangered species in our home state. It will also give us a more robust framework for much-needed conservation breeding research—with the long-term goal of increasing the success of wildlife reintroduction programs in Colorado and worldwide.

Zoo-Based Conservation: Why it Matters

Bob Lembke explained the drive behind the gift: “Denver Zoo has been part of our family tradition since the late 1950s. Both Carol and I loved visiting the old zoo of our childhood, and we took our kids there many times. It’s always a special family outing. With the stewardship provided to endangered species by the Zoo through The Preserve, we hope that the Zoo can be part of our family for generations.” 

As intact wild ecosystems continue to decrease, the number of species that are viable candidates for reintroduction is also in rapid decline. With your help, the Lembke Family Preserve will enable Denver Zoo to scale our leadership in two vital ways. First, our world-class animal care experts will have a spacious secondary campus on which to foster continued health and well-being for our animal family—many of whose species are Threatened or Endangered. Second, in partnership with other organizations, the Lembke Family Preserve will allow Denver Zoo to advance the science of conservation breeding and reintroduction. This critical field of research is a rapidly evolving space, and YOU can be instrumental in this essential phase of discovery.

YOU can make a lasting impact for Threatened and Endangered animals! All visits, memberships and donations support our wildlife conservation efforts in Colorado + worldwide. For updates on the Preserve and its evolution, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. 

Indonesia’s Leuser Ecosystem is the last place on Earth where Critically Endangered Sumatran elephants, tigers, orangutans and rhinoceroses coexist in the wild. This remote UNESCO World Heritage site is home to countless fragile habitats and threatened species. Yet due to illegal farming and development, the entire area is in grave danger. That’s six million acres at risk.

When looking for global conservation work to support, Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance specifically seeks out landscapes like Leuser: where there is strong alignment with the species in our care and our new strategy and where we can make a measurable impact with modest resources. The Leuser partnership is just one of several new Field Conservation efforts we’re launching this year throughout Asia. Read on to learn exactly what we’re doing, how—and why!

COME SAY G’DAY

Explore Down Under with Marvelous Marsupials and Other Species Native to Australia and Surrounding Regions

Down Under, the Zoo’s newest multi-species habitat, opens on May 24. Members and guests can explore Wallaby Way, an immersive pathway experience where they’ll get up close with our red-necked wallabies and red kangaroos, and get to say g’day to adorable tree kangaroos and bright-blue cassowaries. This new habitat encompasses the former site of Bird World and part of the historic pachyderm habitat, and makes up more than two acres of our 80-acre campus.

A NEW HOME FOR AUSTRALASIAN SPECIES 

In addition to Wallaby Way, where guests will gain insight into the world of wallabies and kangaroos and the crucial role they play in their ecosystem, they’ll also observe Huon tree kangaroos Pearl and Tristan, who both arrived in 2023 and are a new species at the Zoo. As an endangered species from Papua New Guinea, Huan tree kangaroos are unique and rare (and adorable). Down Under also provides a new home for cassowaries Neville and Salem with more space for potential conservation breeding in the future as part of their Species Survival Plan through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.  

SHARING THE FIRST NATIONS PEOPLES’ STORY  

Down Under reflects our commitment to sharing First Nations peoples’ perspectives to highlight the connections people have to nature and place, and stewardship of wild lands. In building the Down Under story, we worked closely with First Nations advisors, including Artist and Poet Kirli Saunders, a proud Gunai woman with ties to the Biripi, Gundungurra, Yuin and Dharawal peoples of the east coast of Australia. Kirli helped reimagine the Down Under habitat through art and engaging with First Nations Traditional Custodians to integrate a cross-cultural exploration of connection to—and care for—Country. Her murals in Down Under replicate palettes from the Australian landscape and emphasizes the relationships of culturally significant species with native plants, bush medicines and community.  

IT’S ALSO ABOUT THE FLORA  

From rock materials recycled from other projects within the Zoo to a recycled water irrigation that will save millions of gallons of potable water each year, everything in Down Under is done with sustainability in mind. And although most of the plants used in the landscape are not native to Australia, our horticulture team took great care to select species native to Colorado that are hardy in our climate and have the “look and feel” of Australia. This results in a landscape that conserves water, provides habitat for pollinators and invertebrates, and contributes to a healthy ecosystem on campus. 

Denver Zoo received more than $1.5 million in community support for the construction of Down Under as part of our “Into the Great Wild Open” campaign, which supports all the great work we do, including access and education, animal care and new animal habitats and field conservation and sustainability efforts. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit DenverZoo.org.

For updates, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X and LinkedIn. 

By: Lynn Von Hagen, Regional Conservation Director – Africa and Angela Yang, Director of International Field Conservation

World Elephant Day 2023 is the perfect time to reflect on the need for interdisciplinary collaborations to protect the world’s elephants. Three elephant species remain in Asia and Africa, all of which are threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, human-elephant conflict, and climate change. However, each species has its own unique geographic pressures and life-history traits, causing the conservation of elephants to sometimes seem an insurmountable challenge.  

So, how does the world take on the daunting task of making sure these iconic, intelligent, “gardeners of the forest” roam the Earth for perpetuity? An increasingly prominent issue is the concept of “coexistence” as fragmented and degraded habitats increase the proximity and encounters between communities and elephants. Elephant conservation is complex, and as conservationists we often seek solutions in isolation. A holistic, collaborative approach, bringing some of the world’s greatest minds together is what it will take; each discipline contributing an important piece to solving one of conservation’s enigmatic problems.   

An interdisciplinary approach to elephant conservation would involve leveraging the resources of multi-lateral agencies, the expertise of Indigenous and Western scientists, with the participation and support of local people who live alongside elephants. Denver Zoo’s field conservation strategy aligns with these ideals and supports locally based organizations working in elephant conservation and have recently entered a partnership with the IUCN’s Asian Elephant Specialist Group. Zoo-based Conservation Organizations (ZBCOs) often go overlooked for their investment in global community-based conservation programs and their unique role in educational opportunities with the public. Systems thinking applications used by academics or conservation planners can help to map out potential drivers of conflict. Social scientists can work with local communities (using free, prior, informed consent (FPIC)) to understand community perspectives to co-develop sustainable solutions. Agricultural agents and experts could propose multiple solutions that reduce crop losses from elephant foraging and provide resilience to other environmental threats. However, without local communities’ involvement, our best efforts at conserving elephants will fail.  

It will take many disciplines to address the complexities of conserving the world’s largest land mammals. Indeed, it will take all of us working together to save elephants.