Biology grad maintains safe habitat at Denver Zoo

This story appears in the fall 2024 issue of RED Magazine.

For more than two decades, the Denver Zoo has been the perfect habitat for Leslie Chenaille.

As director of public safety and emergency management, Chenaille oversees day-to-day security and the emergency management program, which ensure the safety of more than 2 million annual visitors.

Chenaille said that when she joined security at the zoo, she found the human side of emergency planning lacking compared with what the animal team had in place. “There were things the group hadn’t even thought about, because they didn’t have the threats we do now,” she said.

In short, it was a jungle out there. And Chenaille, who graduated from Metropolitan State University of Denver in 2006 with degree in Biology, was up for the challenge of building out the important program. Along the way, she discovered her passion for keeping people safe.

Protecting guests at Colorado’s most visited cultural destination wasn’t always the plan. When Chenaille embarked on her higher education journey at Colorado State University, she set her sights on attending medical school. Three years into her premed studies, a Neuroanatomy class changed that.

“They handed me a human brain and said I had to dissect it,” she said. “It was more than I could manage.”

With a lifelong love of animals and a desire to move to Denver, Chenaille transferred to MSU Denver, adding a Zoology concentration and Hospitality minor to her degree program. At the same time, she started a job as a seasonal cashier at the zoo, intending to become an animal-care specialist (zookeeper) upon graduation.

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When the temporary position ended, Chenaille stayed at the zoo, doing various jobs before landing an internship in the education department, where she worked with smaller mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians. Once again, her career goals were thwarted. “When a frog passed away, I realized (becoming a zookeeper) wasn’t something my heart could handle,” she said.

For the next 10 years, Chenaille managed program logistics for the zoo’s education department and taught there, using her degree to pass on her enthusiasm for animals, before returning to guest services as the director of guest operations. In that role, she managed security, attractions and call-center teams, as well as front-end gate admission and public events such as Zoo Lights. She became known for her aptitude for building successful teams, which ultimately led to her current role.

Chenaille keeps her security team focused on maintaining a customer-oriented, immersive experience.  Team members have been trained to observe and deescalate, enabling them to handle situations ranging from lost parents to heat exhaustion and everything in between. She wants to sustain an environment where guests intuitively know they’re being kept safe, allowing them to let down their guard and connect with the animals and nature.

The zoo isn’t rejuvenating only for guests. When Chenaille is having a difficult day, she can take a breath and get out to see the animals. (She described the hyenas as her “babies.”) The experience brings her peace and reminds her why she’s there. Her favorite times to walk around are when the animals are going to sleep in the evening and after the first light snow, when their playful personalities come out.

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While Chenaille acknowledges that her work is far removed from what she learned in getting her Biology degree, she has found a different way — the right one for her — to help animals. And she still gets to use her knowledge to get out into the park to talk to guests, building relationships between people and animals. She also credits attending college with helping her define herself and guide her career.

“I love what I do, and I’ve been doing it for a long time,” said Chenaille. “If I had never taken that Neuroanatomy class, I never would have learned that I wasn’t on the right path for me.

“It took a while for me to get here, and I took a lot of different side roads and pathways, but in the end I knew I wanted to be at the zoo.”