Happy International Vulture Awareness Day! Today, keepers Brooke and Michelle are spending time with Godric and Hedwig, our Cape griffon vultures, and Nesher, our Eurasian griffon vulture. Cape Griffon vultures are endangered with declining populations, but Eurasian Griffon vultures are of least concern and are increasing in the wild. Vultures are extremely important parts of their ecosystems, and serve as an indicator of the health of the environment below them. Measuring the health of vultures is a great way to measure the overall health of the food chain below them.

Many of the challenges that vultures face in the wild are man-made. Accidental power line collisions are a major issue for these birds. Poachers will also sometimes poison the meat of illegal kills to prevent vultures from flying above the carcasses and revealing their location to rangers. Loss of habitat is also causing a decline in these powerful birds, as it means fewer resources for these birds to live off of.

While these dangers are man-made. not all human intervention is bad for these birds. We are proud that Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s guests help fund the operations of VulPro through Quarters for Conservation, which is funded by your 75¢ contribution every time you visit the Zoo. VulPro is a South African-based conservation program that works to save Africa’s vultures through rehabilitation efforts, captive breeding programs, research and education.

Since November 2020, VulPro has rescued 59 vultures, most of which were victims of power line collisions and starvation. One of their rising concerns is the impact of wind farms on vulture populations, as they are beginning to see more vultures and raptors injured or killed by collisions with turbines. One especially memorable rescue occurred in May this year, when an African white-backed vulture had its head and beak stuck in a piece of old pvc pipe. When the VulPro team rescued the bird, he was malnourished and dehydrated, and his tongue was damaged where the pipe had cut into it. The vulture stayed at the Vulpro facility until it recovered, and was released back into the wild on June 1.

VulPro’s hope is to inspire people to protect these iconic species. Thank you for celebrating International Vulture Awareness Day with us at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, where every visit is conservation in action.


Tsavo Trust is a field-based non-profit organization in Africa that uses aerial surveillance and on-the-ground field efforts to protect wildlife in Tsavo National Park, the largest national park in Kenya. Through the Quarters from Conservation program, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s members and guests have supported Tsavo Trust since May 2016.

The organization was founded to help protect the last of the ‘big tuskers,’ which are likely the last viable genetic pool of African elephants with tusks weighing more than 100 pounds each. The park is also home to a number of black rhino sanctuaries established by the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and supported by the Zoological Society of London. The black rhino is critically endangered, due primarily to illegal poaching for their horns.

In partnership with the Kratt Family Foundation, CMZoo continues to support Tsavo Trust’s mission by funding ongoing infrastructure development and community outreach projects. Supporting staff salaries and on-site maintenance allows the team on the ground to more efficiently protect the animals at risk. Last year, CMZoo sent support for clean water wells for Tsavo Trust headquarters and a nearby community, which helps bridge relationships with locals who can help Tsavo Trust identify emerging issues that could impact wildlife in the area. This was funded by the Zoo’s daily elephant and rhino feedings, which are available during summer months when weather permits.

This year, CMZoo’s funding has helped support a full-time business administrator, a full-time conservation officer and low-flying reconnaissance pilot and a newly completed workshop, where the team can efficiently maintain its fleet of 12 ground vehicles. Keeping those all-terrain vehicles in working order means the team can effectively reach elephants and rhinos that need them.

“Imagine having your headquarters in the middle of Tsavo National Park,” said Dr. Liza Dadone, CMZoo vice president of mission and programs. “You’re protecting roughly 16,000 miles of land that is vital to the survival of the last of this incredible population of African elephants, but the lack of services can present obstacles that could mean life or death for an elephant. If a vehicle broke down in the past, it could have caused a significant delay in getting to the elephants in the field. Now, Tsavo Trust teams can maintain their vehicles on-site and get where they’re needed – with the elephants and rhinos in the wild.”

From January to June 2021, Tsavo Trust flew more than 28,000 miles above Tsavo National Park, monitoring elephants, rhinos and other wildlife from the skies. The Tsavo Trust airplanes give their team the best vantage point for identifying threats to the animals, which are relayed to Tsavo Trust protection and monitoring teams, on foot and in vehicles, who can take action on the ground.

“I hope our guests can feel the impact they’re making through our partnership with Tsavo Trust,” said Dr. Dadone. “By visiting the Zoo, you’re sending financial support directly to the team who keeps a watchful eye on these magnificent animals and anyone who might want to harm them.”

In that same period, Tsavo Trust has made 28 arrests, including poachers and ivory dealers, and recovered 417 snares and traps.

Every visit to the Zoo is conservation in action. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and its supporters, guests and members have raised more than $3.4 million since the Zoo’s Quarters for Conservation program launched in 2008.

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Join us for a 5-week check-in with our beloved baby boy hippo. He and his mom, Zambezi, continue to bond well, and have even been exploring the main hippo yard together. Little baby hippo is weighing in at more than 160 pounds now! He’s gaining about a pound a day.

He’s also starting to grow his tusks and is beginning to interact with his keeper team. Water’s Edge: Africa lead keeper, Phil, fills us in on the latest from the hippo building, where baby and Zambezi have been joining him for afternoon meals daily.

The team is working on choosing a name for the baby hippo, and we’ll share that as soon as we can.

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Do you know our two emus, Dora and Damian? These two ‘really big birds’ live in Australia Walkabout, near the wallaby yard. Join Australia Walkabout Keeper, Bruce, to learn about the unique personalities, backgrounds and features of these flightless feathered friends, then watch the two enjoy a summertime cooldown in a nice mud wallow.

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Last month, Juju, 40-year-old CMZoo female Western lowland gorilla, started showing her keepers she wasn’t feeling well. Juju, who is known for being confident and independent, was spending more time away from the group, being less energetic, and sitting uncomfortably. Juju is in her golden years, having surpassed the median life expectancy of 39 years for female Western lowland gorillas, and had experienced short periods of similar discomfort, but this episode was lasting longer and her symptoms were more severe.

On August 4, 2021, after her team had exhausted all voluntary diagnostic and treatment options, Juju received a thorough examination under anesthesia in CMZoo’s vet clinic. Anesthesia is risky for any animal, but especially for an older animal. X-rays showed she doesn’t have major issues, like fractures or breaks, causing her pain, and that it’s more chronic, age-related issues to manage. She did well under anesthesia and has recovered and responded well to the treatments, including steroid injections in her left knee and left hip, and ongoing oral medications to help with pain and inflammation. Thankfully, Juju’s keepers and veterinary team have seen her continue to improve physically since the treatment.

Unless Juju’s care team sees that she’s declining, they’ll continue to manager her discomfort with oral medications, and won’t attempt any further diagnostics. They track her quality-of-life markers for her ‘new normal,’ which help the team set realistic expectations and more specific behavior trends that help them identify if she might need assistance again.

Some might think Juju’s care plan is purely focused on her physical conditions, but there’s another factor to consider when an animal has to leave and rejoin its group: the well-being of the troop. Because gorillas are such social beings, and because CMZoo’s Western lowland gorilla troop of five has been somewhat slow to form a cohesive group, the next step was to reunite them while preserving the relationships they’ve worked so hard to establish.

Silverback gorillas joining an established group, like 30-year-old Goma, have to earn the respect of the females in their troops, and a large-and-in-charge female like Juju doesn’t always make it easy for him. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t be unusual for Juju to ‘challenge’ Goma, testing her limits by sitting closer than he would prefer, for example. When Juju does this, Goma’s job is to prove he’s a leader to earn her and the other females’ respect. He might ‘display,’ by standing up tall and making noise with nearby objects. Normally Juju would show him respect by moving away. While she wasn’t as mobile as usual, Goma – knowing Juju’s tendencies – could have seen her inability to move away quickly as a continued challenge, which could have caused tension between them. To avoid creating this environment, which would be stressful for the whole troop, keepers gave Goma his own space. Other than during her time at the vet clinic, Juju was with the females consistently.

“Once our vet team decided Juju was steady enough, she rejoined the girls,” said Eleanor Knox, senior keeper in Primate World. “When we opened the door between them, she was still pretty stiff from the procedure. Roxie and Asha were doing happy gorilla grumbles and touching her. Roxie, her best friend, patted her. Asha sort of encouraged her out of the den to a comfy hay bed, where she relaxed for the next couple of hours with Roxie close by.”

By the next morning, Juju had made her way outside, followed by Roxie. The team gave Juju about a week after the immobilization before reuniting her and the females with Goma. After a week, they could see the ladies were calm and settled, and Juju was confident and mobile enough to share space with him.

“The goal is to have a cohesive group, so separating Goma was the best thing for them at the time, but we knew we would need them to reunite when Juju was better,” said Knox. “It didn’t take long to see we could reunite everyone safely.”

When gorillas are excited or happy, they let out ‘gorilla grumbles,’ and the day they were reunited was grumbly indeed. They’ve been back together for their normal daily interactions for about two weeks.

“Just seeing that they could go through this potentially stressful scenario so calmly, and actually seeing excitement during the reunion is a huge nod to their resilience and bonds as a group,” said Knox. “Goma has been paying a lot of attention, which we can interpret as him caring about the overall good of the group.”

Primate World keepers will continue to monitor Juju and adjust treatments as needed. For now, the troop has settled back in together so well, that they’ll continue spending time together as a troop, growing their bonds.

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It’s officially back-to-school season. While our partner, Children’s Hospital Colorado, helps parents prepare for the academic year ahead, Water’s Edge: Africa keepers are helping 4-month-old ring-tailed lemur, Maky [MAH-kee], take his first steps toward training!
Many animals at the Zoo participate in voluntary training, which allows them to choose to participate in their own health care and other husbandry behaviors for their well-being. One of the first steps in training is building a trusting relationship between the animal and its keeper team.

“Developing a relationship with a young animal is one thing, but the real test is our relationships with their mothers when we need to work with them,” said Phil Waugh, lead keeper in Water’s Edge: Africa. “The fact that our ring-tailed lemur moms are comfortable with us being close to and even touching their babies is a huge signal that they trust us – not only with their safety, but with their babies’ safety.”

Maky’s mom, Rogue, calmly sits by, snacking on raspberries, as the Water’s Edge team comes onto Lemur Island to see if Maky wants to train. The young lemur is clearly excited by all of the activity – and snacks. He may be young, but he has mastered the art of speed leaping. He jumps quickly from one branch to another to make it over to the keepers, even beating his dad, Hercules, for top positioning closest to his trainer, Erin.

“Maky is incredibly confident with his team, and he’s full of energy,” said Waugh. “He’s young, so his training will start with learning to focus on one keeper and one task at a time. He’s quite a rambunctious little student, so it’s endearing to see him really harnessing that focus to participate with his keeper team.”

Little Maky is also learning to accept voluntary injections. The team will start by simply bringing a syringe without a needle near him, so he can see what it looks like. Then, they’ll touch him with the syringe, then add a blunted needle until he’s totally comfortable with it. Injection training is often a top priority for new or young animals, since it helps them receive vaccinations they need with as little stress as possible.

CMZoo’s three adult lemurs, Allagash, Hercules and Rogue, are injection trained, too. They have also learned more complicated behaviors, like voluntarily loading into a transport crate for low-stress moves from Lemur Island to the vet clinic, for example. They continue to learn, too! They’re working on presenting different parts of their bodies for keepers to touch and check for possible wounds or other issues.

“Allagash, who gave birth to twins in July, has also shown us she’s comfortable with us getting close to her babies,” said Waugh. “When we ask her to stretch up or show us her belly, she’s happy to do it. It helps us do visual checks on her and the twins, while they’re still clinging to her back and chest most of the time.”

Maky spends very little time on his mom’s back anymore, but still seems to like sitting next to her for the lemurs’ daily morning sunbathing sessions. We hope you all do well as you head back to school, and that you get lots of rewards for your training, just like Maky!

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Napping can be tough when you have a newborn! Zambezi is clearly a great mom, always keeping a watchful eye on her little one in between quick winks. Her 3-and-a-half week old calf is great at power napping right alongside her, when not exploring his new, great big world. Once Zambezi decides that naptime is over, the pair enter the water and swim off to their preferred nursing spot. A mother’s work is never done.

THREE-WEEK OLD BABY HIPPO’S DAD CELEBRATES WITH A BLUE WATERMELON SMASH – Cheyenne Mountain Zoo today announced their newest bundle of joy – a three-week-old Nile hippo – is a boy! To celebrate, 18-year-old first-time Nile hippo dad, Biko, smashed a watermelon with the insides dyed blue, with animal-safe food coloring. Enjoy this video, for an up-close view of the smashing good time!

Baby hippo facts:

– Born July 20
– Mom: Zambezi (zam-BEE-zee)
– Dad: Biko (BEE-koh)
– First hippo born at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in 32 years
– Baby weighs 115 pounds
– Guests can visit mom and baby in Water’s Edge: Africa, the Zoo’s newest exhibit
– Advance tickets to the Zoo are required and available at cmzoo.org/visit

About Water’s Edge: Africa

Water’s Edge: Africa opened in June 2020, with brand-new homes for hippos, African penguins, ring-tailed lemurs, warthogs, pink-backed pelicans and more. Hippo breeding was a key focus of the exhibit’s design, which includes a hippo river loop that can be separated to create mom-and-baby nurseries. Guests can get face-to-face with hippos at their knife-edge pool, or get a bird’s-eye view of them in their yards from a giant rope suspension bridge. The exhibit also has an off-exhibit pool, which can be used if Zambezi’s care team sees she’d like more privacy with her calf.

About Nile Hippos

Only 30 organizations accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums in North America, including Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, house hippos. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List categorizes Nile hippopotamuses as a species vulnerable to extinction in the wild, estimating 125,000 to 150,000 remain in their native habitats. The primary threats are habitat loss and illegal and unregulated hunting. Hippos are hunted for their meat and for their ivory canine teeth.

As first-time parents, Biko’s and Zambezi’s offspring represents an important contribution to the population of hippos in human care. The Nile Hippopotamus Species Survival Plan manages the population’s breeding recommendations to achieve the highest possible genetic diversity in the pool. More about Nile hippos at CMZoo.

About Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Cheyenne Mountain Zoological Society was founded in 1926. Today, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, America’s mountain Zoo, offers comprehensive education programs, exciting conservation efforts and truly fantastic animal experiences. In 2021, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo was voted #4 Best Zoo in North America and CMZoo’s Rocky Mountain Wild was named #3 Best Zoo Exhibit in North America by USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards. It is Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s goal to help guests fall in love with animals and nature, and take action to protect them. Of the 233 zoos and aquariums accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is one of very few operating without tax support. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo depends on admissions, membership dues, special event attendance and donations for funding.

Ladies and gentlemen, the time has arrived for the baby hippo sex reveal! Water’s Edge: Africa Lead Keeper, Philip, is joined by the calf’s father, Biko, to mark the special occasion. The commissary team at #CMZoo prepared a special treat for the 18-year-old hippo dad; a watermelon with the insides dyed with animal-safe food coloring to indicate the sex of the baby. What color will it be? Watch this for the ‘smashing’ reveal!

As you know, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and our community raised funds in our time of heartbreak after losing our female Amur tiger, Savelii, in March 2020. I wanted to update you on the steps we have taken to put those funds to use and about the importance and conservation impact of this funding.

Please enjoy this recorded presentation on Amur tiger conservation, lead by the coordinator of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Tiger Program in Russia. This one-hour presentation originally aired live on Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021. It includes updates on the steps we have taken to put our Savelii Memorial Fund to use and information about the importance and impact this funding will make under the direction of WCS.

As caretakers of endangered and threatened species, we walk a fine line to balance doing what’s right for the individual animals in our care, but also making hard decisions for the future of the species, both in the wild and in human care. When our Amur tiger Savelii passed away earlier this year from anesthetic complications after an artificial insemination procedure, the loss hit our Zoo family and community hard. However, while losing Savelii was difficult, the reality is that there are treacherously few wild Amur tigers remaining – around 500. Unfortunately, the passing of our one tiger might get more attention and discussion than the fact that a future for wild Amur tigers remains uncertain.

In Savelii’s memory, we wanted to make a lasting impact for Amur tiger conservation. With the help of our local and global community, plus funds from Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, we were able to raise a total of $88,170 for Amur tiger conservation.

Over the past five months, we have spoken with multiple Amur tiger conservation programs to determine the best way to move Amur tiger conservation forward in a significant way. We have decided to donate the majority of our Savelli Memorial Fund to an exciting and important project taking place in the Russian Far East, where the largest populations of wild Amur tigers reside.

As temperature patterns change, the ranges of prey species can change. Amur tigers are now migrating further north in the forests of the Russian Far East. In support of Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the Savelli Memorial Fund will go to support conservation efforts that protect Amur tigers in these locations, and the projected locations that the tigers are migrating into. Specifically, the work here seeks to provide secure landscapes for tigers to breed and rear young, to monitor populations of tigers and their prey, and to support law enforcement and anti-poaching efforts using trained rangers with new technology.

With our shared donation of $88,170, which was raised thanks to donations from the smallest gift of 35 cents to larger gifts of $2,000, we will all be making a difference for Amur tigers in their natural habitat. While we still feel the tragic loss of Savelli, we are able to also feel hopeful that her legacy will live on to help her endangered kin in the wild.

Warmly,

Bob Chastain
President & CEO
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

About Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Cheyenne Mountain Zoological Society was founded in 1926. Today, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, America’s mountain Zoo, offers comprehensive education programs, exciting conservation efforts and truly fantastic animal experiences. In 2021, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo was voted #4 Best Zoo in North America and CMZoo’s Rocky Mountain Wild was named #3 Best Zoo Exhibit in North America by USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards. It is Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s goal to help guests fall in love with animals and nature, and take action to protect them. Of the 241 zoos and aquariums accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is one of very few operating without tax support. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo depends on admissions, membership dues, special event attendance and donations for funding.

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