Your Denver Zoo donation helps to support our mission of Inspiring Communities to Save Wildlife for Future Generations. We are so grateful for your incredible generosity.
At Denver Zoo, our love for the animals under our care drives everything we do. Less than 10% of zoos in the U.S. meet the exacting accreditation standards of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)—and, as members of this exclusive group, we’re proud to be setting the gold standard for wild animal care and wellness in this country. Our ongoing mission: to enhance lives by maximizing daily choice, challenge and control for our animal family.
From the tiniest gecko to the most robust rhino, our 3,500 animals are our most precious resource. Your involvement ensures that the dedicated experts on our Animal Care team have the support they need to provide the best care in the industry, every single day—and that we continue to innovate and evolve with each passing year. Read on to learn some of the many ways you make this possible when you support Animal Care at Denver Zoo.
Welcoming a new baby is a huge responsibility for any family. But when that baby represents the future of a critically endangered species—as is the case with many of Denver Zoo's bundles of joy—the stakes are very high indeed. Case in point: the list of experts who contributed to the healthy birth of Joona, the greater one-horned rhino calf we welcomed in 2020, after 12 rounds of artificial insemination and more than a year's gestation, is too long to list here. Suffice to say that it truly takes a village, and we're eternally grateful for every person who takes part. Click the tabs below to learn what Denver Zoo's expectant families need...and how you can help!
Species-specific prenatal care is critical to ensure a healthy pregnancy for both mom and baby.Help Fund Prenatal Care
Outstanding animal nutrition is the foundation of a healthy and high-quality life. Our thoughtfully crafted nutrition program helps to encourage natural behaviors, promote overall wellness and help our animals live longer, healthier lives. Our Nutrition Department works tirelessly to create daily diet plans for more the more than 500 species that make Denver Zoo home, including healthy, nutritive meals that are as close as possible to the foods they would consume in the wild. This dedicated team also caters to some of the most highly specialized diets on the planet—including a gibbon with diabetes, a clouded leopard with a meat allergy and other (necessarily) picky eaters.
For herbivores like Asian elephants and capybara, the team sources and distributes browse materials—the limbs, twigs and leaves that many of our animals eat. We receive and portion nearly 1,000 pounds of browse material every week for distribution throughout the Zoo. In the summer, we feed our animals using browse grown right here on campus, by our Horticulture Department.
For carnivores like our African lions and spotted hyenas, carcass feeding provides fundamental opportunities for our animals to display natural predatory behaviors. Feeding large sections or whole prey provides mental stimulation, exercises jaw muscles, improves muscle tone, supports digestive health, extends foraging time and helps form bonds among our social carnivores.
Denver Zoo is one of only a handful of zoos in the country that employs a full-time animal care specialist wholly dedicated to animal enrichment programs. By encouraging natural and healthy behaviors like digging, tracking, swimming, dusting, climbing, foraging and play, we provide our animals with daily opportunities to explore and interact with their diverse environments—much as they would in the wild. From puzzle feeders to elephant art, these activities enhance both mental and physical well-being.
When you support Denver Zoo, you're doing more than helping our animal family to thrive. You're also ensuring that we can continue to be one of the city's most vital community cornerstones—providing daily education and inspiration to animal lovers of all ages, so the next generation can experience the wonder of the natural world.
