Denver Zoo has given its highest honor, the Crystal Lion Award, to Katie and Scott Schoelzel. It commemorates what president/CEO Shannon Block describes as their “outstanding commitment, generosity and leadership.”
Over the years, the Schoelzels have championed many zoo projects, most recently the .
Katie chaired the zoo’s board of trustees during the planning period for this exhibit, which opened in June 2012 and is one of the largest and most complex elephant habitats in North America.
The Schoelzels — after 14 years managing its Janus Twenty Fund — had a key role in securing funding for Toyota Elephant Passage and the Schoelzel Family Village, which occupies one-third of the 10-acre exhibit, is named in their honor.
The Schoelzel Family Village replicates a typical urban center in tropical Asia and is home to such species as fishing cats and Asian small-clawed otters.
Toyota Elephant Passage, Block adds, has had a tremendous impact on the zoo and its millions of visitors. In 2014, Denver Zoo received the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) Significant Achievement in Education Award for Toyota Elephant Passage programs. That award recognizes, among other things, the ability to promote conservation knowledge, attitudes and behavior.
The Schoelzels also have been instrumental in recruiting others who would become loyal zoo supporters and given generously to the zoo’s conservation efforts.
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314, jdavidson@ denverpost.com or twitter.com/joannedavidson
