The Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance Visits our Community Senior Group

 Last week, our community's senior group, which has the catchy name "Ageless and Unstoppable," and is sponsored by a local realtor, Kali Hepker, and our area's Metro District, hosted a wonderful visit by the Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance.  All registered participants met at our community Ranch House one morning on a bright blue-sky day. The bit of snow we had already melted, except for the north face of one of our high foothills in the distance.

There, we all met a wonderful Outreach Program Specialist, James Garcia. 

James has been with Denver Zoo for 22 years, most of which have been with "Zoo to You Community Outreach Programs."

 He had four different zoo species to show us on this visit — the first being a Red-tailed Hawk.

The Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance, according to Wikipedia,  is an 80-acre (32 ha) nonprofit zoological garden and conservation organization located in City Park of Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1896, it is operated by the Denver Zoological Foundation and funded in part by the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD). Its other sources of funding are ticket sales and private donations. It is the most visited paid attraction in Denver.

Denver Zoo was started with the donation of an orphaned American black bear. With the construction of Bear Mountain, it became the first zoo in the United States to use naturalistic zoo enclosures rather than cages with bars.  It expanded on this concept with Primate Panorama, featuring huge mesh tents and open areas for apes and monkeys, and with Predator Ridge, which has three separate areas through which animals are rotated so that their overlapping scents provide environmental enrichment.

James explained the Red-tailed Hawk's diverse North American habitat, hunting abilities, and distinguishing features of this common bird of prey. The red-tailed hawk preys on small mammals such as rodents and lagomorphs, but also opportunistically consumes birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians. 

In the short video clip above, you can hear the hawk's distinctive high-pitched sound

The next creature James showed us was a lizard commonly called a  Shingleback Stink (Tiliqua Rugosa). The species is widely distributed in arid to semiarid regions of southern and western Australia. It is an omnivore that eats snails, insects, carrion, vegetation, and flowers.

The third creature that James showed us was the most surprising to me! It was a Boreal Toad. 

They are commonly found in the western U.S. and western Canada. 

 It is known in Colorado as the only alpine species of toad. It prefers high-altitude wet habitats (8,000–12,000 ft -- 2,438.4 meters-3,657.6 meters in elevation) such as lakes, marshes, ponds, bogs, and quiet shallow water.

Sadly, Boreal toad populations have declined recently due to an emerging amphibian disease, chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd).

 The boreal toad is currently listed as an endangered species by Colorado and New Mexico.

James explained how the Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance and Colorado Parks and Wildlife are studying the boreal toad and hoping to breed ones that are fungus-resistant and reintroduce them back into their natural habitat. 

Boreal toads feed on a wide range of invertebrates and insects, including flies, mosquitoes, grasshoppers, beetles, and moths. 

The last creature that James exhibited was the Corn Snake.

James laughed when some people in the audience grimaced and groaned at the sight of the snake. He said that snakes are not well-loved, but that they play a very important role in the environment, and the earth would suffer without them. He said that when he shows a rabbit, an audience will usually smile and say "Aww" with affection, but in his 22 years of handling assorted creatures, the only one that ever bit him was a rabbit!

The Corn Snake is found throughout the southeastern and central United States. The corn snake is named for the species' regular presence near grain stores, where it feeds on the mice and rats that eat harvested corn.

James pointed out that while many people feel zoos are hurtful to wildlife by keeping them captive, zoos are usually more helpful and holistic these days, with many conservation programs that are helping to preserve species from total elimination due to the destruction of their habitat

through poaching, pollution, overdevelopment, deforestation, loss of prey, diseases, climate change, etc. 

I believe all the seniors in attendance enjoyed Mr. Garcia's presentation and learned a lot about the different species he showcased. We are also excited to know that, as a follow-up, we will all be visiting the Denver Zoo together in April for a guided zoo tour. I've visited the Denver Zoo many times with my grandchildren, but I'm looking forward to this "adult visit" very much!

Have a very Happy Spring!

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