Senior living center hosts indoor zoo day - #lakewoodnews

Coloradans are pretty lucky to live in a place where they can easily scope out amazing wildlife right from their windows.

But on the first truly frigid day as the winter of 2016-17 approaches, the residents at Atria Park of Applewood senior living had the opportunity to go on a backyard safari right in their building.

"It's too cold to go to the zoo, so we're bringing the zoo to you," said Liz Tessi, engage life director at Atria Park, as she introduced James Garcia, Denver Zoo outreach specialist.

In addition to the pelts, bones and photos of some of Colorado's most recognizable species (think bears, pronghorns and skunks), Garcia also brought some of his friends from the zoo.

"We're going to learn about some animals that may not be as charismatic as ones like giraffes, but they're still very important," he told the residents. "There used to be millions of one such animal, but there's only around 1 percent left --; and that's the black-tailed prairie dog."

Garcia then introduced everyone to Roxy, a prairie dog from the zoo, as he explained the ways 125 different species depend on the animal.

Prairie dogs provide a vital food source to eagles, snakes and other predators, they till the soil with their digging, which ensures grasses grow for deer, bison and other animals to eat, and small animals use empty prairie dog holes to stay warm during the winter.

One of the Denver Zoo's main focuses is conservation, so as Garcia brought out Yertle the Box Turtle, a tiger salamander and Onyx, a black rat snake, he highlighted the interconnectivity of humans and the natural world, and how important it is to protect animals and their habitats.

"There used to be so many bison that it could take upward of three hours for a herd to walk in front of a person, but they were killed to starve the Native Americans," he said. "The bison is the first animal we helped save from extinction at the Denver Zoo."

Some of Atria's residents were brave enough to pet Onyx, and came away with a new appreciation of not just snakes, but all animals.

"I've never been that close to a snake before," said resident Sara Salmon. "I feel better about snakes now, and love the experience."

from Lakewood Sentinel - Latest Stories http://lakewoodsentinel.com/stories/Senior-living-center-hosts-indoor-zoo-day,240389