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There are animals that capture your heart the moment you meet them. For Lead Animal Care Specialist Shayla Bellis, that animal is Saba: a 23-year-old mandrill who has called Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance home since the day she was born here in 2003.
But Saba’s story is more than a love letter to a remarkable animal. It’s a story about what’s possible when Animal Care, Veterinary Medicine, Nutrition, and Wellbeing teams work together, and when an animal is given the trust, time, and training to become an active participant in her own care.
A Complex Diagnosis
Managing any chronic condition for an animal in human care is challenging. Managing diabetes in a mandrill, a species not historically known for participating voluntarily in medical procedures, is something else entirely.
Several years ago, Saba was diagnosed with diabetes. The diagnosis set her care team on a path that would require creativity, patience, collaboration, and years of incremental progress.
“We have to consider a lot of different things with her care,” Shayla explains. “We’re looking at everything from her social management and stress, to working with our Veterinary Medicine team on medications, to working with Nutrition to make sure we’re not spiking her glycemic loads, to working with our Wellness team to make sure her quality of life every single day is being taken care of.”
It takes a village. And at DZCA, that village showed up.
The Role of Training
A carefully built foundation of trust and positive reinforcement has allowed Saba to voluntarily participate in behaviors that would otherwise require sedation, and that has made her diabetes manageable in a way that simply wouldn’t be possible without it.
It started with voluntary urine collection for glucose monitoring. From there, the team worked toward glucometer readings, then toward the milestone of diabetic animal care: a voluntary blood draw.
Today, Saba also voluntarily accepts insulin injections every single day. At times, twice a day. She steps onto a specially modified scale with a perch on top for weekly weigh-ins. She shifts between spaces for cleaning. And she places her feet on the mesh one at a time for foot checks.
Every one of these behaviors was built brick by brick, over years of patient, choice-based work, always on Saba’s terms.
A Milestone Procedure
A few years ago, Saba’s care took another significant step forward: a hysterectomy.
The decision was made for two interconnected reasons. First, unmanaged diabetes can pose serious risks during pregnancy and Saba was not a strong candidate for carrying a pregnancy safely. Second, the hormonal fluctuations caused by birth control can also interfere with diabetic management, making contraception an equally problematic option.
Part of what made the procedure extraordinary was the collaboration behind it. DZCA’s Veterinary Medicine team partnered with OBGYNs from UC Health. Specialists in exactly this type of procedure for humansc ame to the Zoo beforehand to meet Saba, tour our state-of-the-artHelen and Arthur E. Johnson Animal Hospital, and work directly with the Veterinary team.
The procedure was a success, and it removed two significant variables from Saba’s diabetes management: the risk of a high-risk pregnancy and the interference of hormonal contraception. The result is a more stable, more predictable diabetic profile, and a happier, healthier Saba.
Leading the Way for Mandrills
Saba’s care hasn’t just changed her life. It’s helping shape the future of mandrill management across AZA-accredited institutions.
“Before this, many years ago, there were no other institutions really getting blood draws on mandrills,” Shayla explains. “DZCA has been able to work with our facilities and veterinary staff to achieve voluntary blood draws, which is fantastic for her care and helps us minimize the number of times she needs to be under anesthesia.”
Shayla is also part of the AZA Mandrill Management Group, where her expertise in training and diabetic management is directly contributing to the development of a new animal care manual for the species.
The Best She’s Ever Been
As we reflect on Saba’s life, we are reminded that exceptional animal care is a journey of continuous learning. Throughout DZCA’s 130-year history, the Zoo has embraced new scientific knowledge and raised standards of care to better support the wellbeing of every animal. Saba’s experiences, resilience, and longevity are part of that ongoing legacy, helping shape the future of animal care for generations to come.
That’s the result of two decades of dedication. From the Animal Care Specialists who show up for her every day, to the Veterinary and Nutrition teams who have refined her care over years of collaboration, to the UC Health doctors who used their expertise to help support her care.
And, of course, from Saba herself—who, with patience and trust, learned to be an active participant in her own wellbeing.
Come Meet Saba
Saba is one of five mandrills at Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance, and she and her troop can be found at Primate Panorama. Come say hello and witness for yourself what 130 years of world-class care looks like.
