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Animals Animals A-Z

Featured Animals – African Penguin

Discover “everything penguin” around the Zoo below, from news to adoptions, births, conservation programs, your own encounter options, animal experiences, shows, events and more.

Penguin Highlights

African Penguin Chick

Where Water's Edge: Africa

~ Born early April 2025 – Waddle we do with all this cuteness? A tiny, fluffy African penguin chick made its grand debut at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in early April! This little one is growing up big and strong. At just 22 days old, the chick weighs 983 grams! Its care team monitors and weighs it every few days. This little one is an important ambassador for African penguins. Keep an eye (and ear) out for the chick in the penguin building in Water’s Edge Africa. While it’s usually snuggled in the nest, you might see it wriggle out, or hear it peeping.

Adopt an African Penguin

African Penguin Conservation

African Penguin Event Schedule

9:30 a.m.
Penguin Keeper Talk
Water's Edge: Africa
Each of our penguins has its own quirks and preferences. Join us at feeding time to learn how we care for this critically endangered species and hear stories about their social bonds and conservation in the wild.

Daily

Everything Penguin

Members-Only Conservation Vote Winners Announced

April 30, 2025

Last month, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo members cast their votes to help the Zoo decide how to spend $75,000 of member conservation funds among staff-championed conservation projects vying for members’ support. The three projects with the most votes received the full funding they requested. Every membership and every visit to the Zoo is conservation in action. . . .

Tiny Chick, Big Impact: African Penguin Hatches at CMZoo

April 30, 2025

Waddle we do with all this cuteness? A tiny, fluffy African penguin chick made its grand debut at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in early April! This little one is growing up big and strong. At just 22 days old, the chick weighs 983 grams! Its care team monitors and weighs it every few days. This little . . .

Learn About The Ranger Saving African Penguins Off The Coast of South Africa

March 25, 2025

Thanks to the support of Zoo guests and members, wild critically endangered African penguins have ongoing support. One of the key people leading this charge in the field is the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds’ (SANCCOB) Penguin and Seabird Ranger, Yandisa Cwecwe. Working side-by-side with African penguins on South Africa’s historic . . .

Who’s Waddling With Whom? A Peek Into CMZoo Penguin Pairings

December 23, 2024

During the cooler months, African penguins mostly focus on nesting and eating. As daylight hours decrease, they naturally pair up and settle in for snuggle season. While penguins don’t technically mate for life, they are monogamous and typically stay with the same partner during breeding season. The sixteen ‘flockstars’ at CMZoo have been together since . . .

Winter is Coming: How Cooler Temps Impact African Penguins, Grizzly Bears and Mountain Lions

October 30, 2024

Shorter days and holidays are approaching. For many humans, that means unusual eating traditions, a shift in activity and an effort to maintain healthy habits. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo partners, Children’s Hospital Colorado, share advice for helping your family stay healthy during the holidays. At CMZoo, shorter days and cooler temperatures trigger changes to some animal . . .

Unforgettable Moments: Explore CMZoo’s Summer Animal Demonstrations

May 23, 2024

Adding animal demonstrations to your next Zoo day itinerary is one of the best ways to kick off the summer. Included with your regular daytime ticket, you’ll have access to multiple animal demonstrations throughout the day. From brachiating orangutans to a guinea pig parade, these demonstrations offer fun and educational experiences for our guests while . . .

Member Conservation Vote Winners Announced

April 24, 2024

Last month, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo members cast their votes to help the Zoo decide how to spend $75,000 of member conservation funds among six conservation projects vying for members’ support. The three projects with the most votes received the full funding they requested. The number of votes received for the remaining three projects helped CMZoo . . .

Eating Well All Year Round – and During the Holidays!

October 30, 2023

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL COLORADO – Just like people, animals’ diets play a huge role in their overall health. In addition to enrichment activities, training sessions and environmental elements that support animals’ mental and physical wellness, planning their daily meals is a major focus for animal care teams. As the holidays roll around each . . .

Join The Flock for International African Penguin Awareness Day

September 28, 2023

Celebrate our ‘flockstars’ on International African Penguin Awareness Day (IAPAD), on Sat., Oct. 14 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Zoo! Penguin enthusiasts will gather in Water’s Edge: Africa for crafts, games, and other activities available throughout the day – including keeper demonstrations during penguin feeding times, at 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. . . .

CMZoo Announces 2023 Member Conservation Vote Winners

April 27, 2023

We are excited to announce the rankings of our annual Member Conservation Vote! When you become a member at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, you get to vote on which conservation projects we support. $75,000 of membership revenue is sent to support employee-championed field conservation partners around the world. Thanks to CMZoo members, five conservation efforts will . . .

CMZoo Sends Support to Longtime Penguin Conservation Partner

January 26, 2023

Apart from being adorable and full of sassy antics, the African penguins at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo have a big job: to help visitors fall in love with and advocate for wild penguins. Napoleon, Biggs, Ivy and the rest of the flock inspire us to save wildlife and wild places, and their wild counterparts can use . . .

Join us for International African Penguin Awareness Day at the Zoo Oct. 8

September 28, 2022

International African Penguin Awareness Day (IAPAD) is Sat., Oct. 8, and we have an exciting day of activities planned on the beaches of Water’s Edge: Africa to help raise awareness for African penguin conservation. Although African penguin populations continue to struggle in the wild, strides have been made to save this endangered species, and you . . .

Penguin Sculpture Dedication

Leave a legacy at the Zoo by naming one of our bronze, life-size penguin sculptures! Each penguin will only be named once, and the name will be placed next to the statue. Whether you’re naming it in honor of someone or you just love penguins (and beautiful art!), your naming will remain for the life of the sculptures.

Cost: Penguin Sculpture $10,000

All proceeds benefit Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.

Join the Flock for Breakfast for World Penguin Day

April 15, 2021

It’s World Penguin Day, so let’s hang out with CMZoo’s African penguins in Water’s Edge: Africa! Join our keepers at the edge of the guest sidewalk, where our 16 African penguins can come right up to their penguin-sized fence to say hello to our guests any time they want on warm-weather days. Did you know . . .

What’s New with the Flock? African Penguin Awareness Day is October 10

September 24, 2020

International African Penguin Awareness Day is October 10, and the African penguin keepers at Water’s Edge: Africa have a special social media celebration in the works. On our Facebook and YouTube channels, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo will share a video about our flock of 16 African penguins, who serve as animal ambassadors for their wild counterparts. . . .

Meet the African Penguins!

May 28, 2020

Join us for breakfast on the beach of Water’s Edge: Africa. Animal keeper, Al, is feeding our flock of 11 African penguins while she tells us about their personalities – and how you can identify each penguin. Back to The Waterhole

Video Tour of Water’s Edge: Africa

May 28, 2020

Meet some of the keepers, see some of the animals and learn about some of the cool features of our newest exhibit for hippos and penguins – Water’s Edge: Africa! Back to The Waterhole

Our First African Penguins Have Arrived at Water’s Edge: Africa!

April 25, 2020

We have BIG NEWS on #WorldPenguinDay! Our first five African penguins have arrived! Since our temporary closure, we’ve continued work on Water’s Edge: Africa, our new home for hippos, penguins, warthogs, lemurs and more. We’re happy to report the new exhibit’s first residents are settling in. In this video, meet CMZoo African penguins Pomona, Safara, . . .

Water’s Edge: Africa

Discover an educational nature playground for animal lovers that also offers important homes for our hippos and penguins! This special exhibit design enhances their environments and supports successful breeding programs for both species, while giving our guests extraordinary unique ways to view their daily lives. Nile hippos and African penguins face surmounting threats in the wild, so it’s important that we try to inspire people to take conservation action on behalf of these, and other, species.

A special thank you to the generous donors of the Making Waves capital campaign, which made Water’s Edge: Africa possible.

Adopt Choices for Penguins

Support your favorites with digital, traditional, gift package, and group adoptions. Gifting any adopt choice is available by simply completing the gift area at checkout.

Water’s Edge: Africa Construction Update #12

February 18, 2020

Bob Chastain, CMZoo president and CEO, is back with the latest update from Water’s Edge: Africa. We’ve refilled the void in the soil under the indoor hippo pool and waterproofed the new concrete. Soon, we’ll do another water test to measure continued water loss. Get an up-close view of the micro cracks that we’re repairing . . .

Water’s Edge: Africa Construction Update #11 – January 24th 2020

January 24, 2020

Bob Chastain, CMZoo president and CEO, is back with an update on Water’s Edge: Africa! From the indoor penguin pool, Bob gives the details about the pool and underground excavation, soil testing (good news!), and reconstruction of the hippo and penguin pools. The next step is additional water testing, which involves measuring how much the . . .

Water’s Edge: Africa Construction Update #10 – December 2019

December 27, 2019

We're back with an update on our hippo and penguin exhibit under construction, Water's Edge: Africa. Bob Chastain, president and CEO of CMZoo, explains why we're experiencing delays and gives the most recent anticipated opening timeline. We really wanted a hippopotamus for Christmas, but (#spoileralert) it's going to be at least a few more months until we can welcome the hippo girls home...

V.I.P. Small Group Tours

Custom Memories for a Lifetime. Book a world-class V.I.P. Tour at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Treat yourself and your fellow animal lovers to an experience of a lifetime! Go behind-the-scenes to meet, feed, or train your favorite animals. Learn more...

Adopt an Animal

Foster any animal and you’ll help Cheyenne Mountain Zoo continue to provide outstanding care. Whether given as a gift or used to celebrate a favorite species, symbolic adoptions come with a variety of benefits only adoptive parents can enjoy. Ways to adopt your favorites: Digital Adoption – ($35) choose any Zoo animal from the full . . .

CMZoo Travels to Cape Town to Help African Penguin Chicks at Sanccob

February 28, 2019

Two CMZoo staff members recently returned from Cape Town, South Africa, where they helped hand-rear orphaned African penguin chicks at the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB), a Cheyenne Mountain Zoo conservation partner. SANCCOB rescues penguins, provides medical care, incubates eggs, hand rears chicks, helps park rangers monitor penguin colonies on . . .

Way Beyond Watching

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