ABOUT RMAAZK

Rocky Mountain AAZK is the local American Association of Zoo Keepers chapter for the Denver area. Our membership consists of staff and volunteers from the Denver Zoo, Downtown Aquarium Denver, and Butterfly Pavilion. Rocky Mountain AAZK was founded March 4th, 1984.  We have been a long standing chapter in the national AAZK organization and were awarded the “Chapter of the Year” Award in 2013.

Rocky Mountain AAZK is dedicated to our mission statement of ‘empowering zoo professionals to protect the natural world.’ Each year, we organize fundraisers and events to aide in our professional development and conservation funding.

Zookeepers and aquarists are an incredibly passionate group of individuals who strive to make a contribution to worldwide conservation every day. Whether this is through educating our visitors and communities about animals’ natural histories and lives, or going out in the field and performing much needed research and conservation, keepers make a difference in the natural world around us. We also continuously work on improving our care for animals by advancing our skills in training, education, enrichment, animal handling and research. Rocky Mountain AAZK spends a significant portion of our raised funds in supporting our members to attend national conferences and workshops. In recent years we have sent keepers to grow professionally by attending the National AAZK annual conference, AZA species or taxon-specific workshops including Felid TAG, IMATA (International Marine Animal Trainer's Association) annual conference, and the ABMA (Animal Behavior Management Alliance) annual conference.

We also utilize a portion of our annual funds raised to support conservation projects worldwide. In addition to sending funds raised to various conservation organizations such as the Fishing Cat Fund and International Rhino Foundation, Rocky Mountain AAZK provides conservation grants for our members. These grants allow our members to travel and use their expertise to improve conservation efforts around the world. Most recently, we have sent members to South Africa for emergency flamingo conservation, Nepal for research and education, and New Zealand for kea conservation and education. Our chapter prides itself on being able to support other animal organizations in their conservation efforts as well as our own chapter members.