SAFE HABITAT

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 the zoo’s day-to-day security and emergency planning, which ensure the safety of more than 2 million annual visitors.

When Chenaille joined security at the zoo, she noticed some deficits in the human side of emergency planning 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. But Chenaille, a 2006 Biology graduate from Metropolitan State University of Denver, was up for the challenge of building out the emergency management 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. Chenaille originally wanted to attend medical school. But three years into her studies at Colorado State University, a Neuroanatomy class changed that. Dissecting a human brain was too much to manage, she said.

Chenaille, a lifelong lover of animals, transferred to MSU Denver, adding a Zoology concentration and Hospitality minor to her degree program. She also started as a seasonal cashier at the zoo, where she has been ever since, serving in education and guest services and now as head of security.

She keeps her team focused on maintaining a customer-oriented, immersive experience. She wants to sustain an environment where guests know they’re being kept safe, allowing them to relax and connect with the animals.

The zoo isn’t rejuvenating only for guests. When Chenaille is having a difficult day, she visits the animals. (She describes the hyenas as her “babies.”) The experience reminds her why she is there.

While Chenaille acknowledges that her work is different from what she learned in getting her Biology degree, she has found a unique way to help animals.

“I love what I do,” she said. “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.”