ANIMAL INSTINCTS

“I love the elephants. They are so smart, and really have personalities.”

magine how hard it is to be a “people doc,” knowing all the bones in the human body, the diseases we’re prone to, plus all of our medications. Now imagine multiplying that knowledge. As one of only about 250 board-certified zoo veterinarians in the world (four are at the Denver Zoo) and a diplomat of the American College of Zoological Medicine, she works with every animal in the zoo—from reptiles to big cats, fish to primates. It’s a lot. “We have to know a little bit about everything,” she says. “Ophthalmology, cardiology, surgery, dentistry…”