Leader: Carol McCasland
Date: 9 a.m-1 p.m., Saturday, April 17, 2027
Fees: $75.00 per person
Limited to 8 guests
Location: Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance, 2300 Steele St., Denver.
Registration: Please see How to Register for an Interludes Trip to register.

American Flamingo, photo courtesy of Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance

Enjoy a special private tour of the Denver Zoo with Carol McCasland, a long-time docent at Denver Zoo. We will meet the friendly Ambassador flock of Chilean and American Flamingos who are very curious about us humans, especially when we have cups of krill!  The Denver Zoo Animal Care Specialists, who work with these birds, will tell us not only about these friendly birds, but the state of these birds in the wild. The flock will often walk us out as they take their daily walk in the public.

We’ll make our way to Down Under where we will meet up with a very ‘scary’ bird — the Southern Cassowary.  This species is known, perhaps unfairly, as the most dangerous bird on the planet because it is capable of disemboweling a person with its razor-sharp claw.  You will be convinced when you see this bird that birds evolved from dinosaurs!  The cassowaries will gladly take grapes from us!  (We use tongs through the mesh, so no worries!)

If time permits and guests want more, Carol McCasland, as a long-time docent, will take the group to see the Great Apes  — and can talk about them forever.  If the group is lucky, we might get a glimpse of one of the baby orangutans.

Carol has been a docent educator at the Denver Zoo Conservation Alliance for 16 years, and before that she was a docent at San Antonio Zoo.  While she specializes in Great Apes (Orangutans and Gorillas), she has a deep love of all things avian.  She has seen all six species of flamingos in the wild, and was privileged to see a Southern Cassowary in the wild in Australia.  Conservation of all things living is a passion, and she hopes one day to see the California Condor up closer to celebrate their remarkable recovery from near extinction.

The trip fee includes entry to the Denver Zoo. Participants will need to provide their own transportation to and from the Denver Zoo. Participants may be able to arrange carpooling among themselves, if desired.

This trip is part of the Interludes with Nature field trip series. These trips are led by the area’s most knowledgeable birders and naturalists who take participants to places they wouldn’t often get to see. Monies raised by this important fundraising tool send our Teen Naturalists to birding camps.

Cancellation Policy

All cancellations incur a $20.00 fee. If you cancel within 3 weeks of the event, your payment, less the fee, will only be refunded if the spot can be filled. Please consider it a donation for the fine work that Boulder County Audubon does and how much work it is to arrange these trips and keep track of the attendees.