Evolutionary Zoology

Inside the small-animal treatment room at the Denver Zoo’s new $24 million hospital, a veterinarian, veterinary technician, and keeper are finding out what it’s like to be the ones on display: About four feet above them, visitors ogle the trio at work removing keratin buildup from a diminutive African penguin’s beak. Children press their hands and faces against the giant pane of glass that separates the public viewing area from the room, which is lined with stainless steel cabinets and high-tech medical equipment. A mic’d-up interpreter explains that Maddy, the flightless bird lying on the procedure table below, periodically needs to have her beak trimmed. “It’s made of the same thing as your fingernails,” she says.

The Helen and Arthur E. Johnson Animal Hospital, a 22,000-square-foot clinic that puts the Denver Zoo among