Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Author at CMZoo

Here at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, we believe we have multiple responsibilities to our community, in addition to our responsibilities to the natural world. Our unique atmosphere allows friends and family to spend quality time together, while providing our guests an opportunity to spend time in the outdoors, which has been shown to improve both physical and mental well-being.

On Friday, March 13, 2020, Governor Jared Polis issued guidance to cancel events and gatherings of more than 250 people. He clarified with Colorado cultural attractions, however, that outdoor venues can operate with larger numbers of guests as long as they don’t have more than 250 people in a single gathering space or building.

In an effort to fulfill the community’s need for activities during a stressful time and the need to be able to get outdoors for mental well-being, we are implementing the following changes to our daily operations, out of an abundance of caution, through at least March 30, 2020. As the situation with COVID-19 and community spread is constantly evolving, we will remain nimble to make other changes, as the situation warrants.

We are currently open for daytime admission during our normal hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the last admission at 4 p.m., with the following precautions in place:

We are partnering with El Paso County Public Health and following guidelines set forth by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Governor Polis’ Office of Community Engagement.
Zoo staff will be maintaining increased disinfection protocols for high-touch areas throughout the Zoo.
We are encouraging guests to follow Governor Polis’ recommendations for social distancing, including allowing six feet between parties while enjoying the Zoo. Our open-air environment gives Zoo guests ample ability to enjoy the Zoo while keeping comfortable distances from other parties.
Also in accordance with the Governor’s recommendations, we will limit the number of guests in any Zoo building at any time to 250.
To ensure that we self-regulate our daily guest count, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo will not use off-site parking during this time. This will prevent the need for shuttling guests on buses from an off-site location, and it will automatically limit our daily attendance. This may mean that you will be turned away if we are at capacity for our on-site parking lot. Please follow our parking signs for updates on our parking availability. Please also stay patient and flexible – we can often accommodate additional guests by mid-afternoon as earlier guests depart and free up space in our parking lot.
In addition to the numerous public restroom facilities with permanent hand-washing sinks found throughout the Zoo, we will be adding temporary hand-washing stations throughout the Zoo as they become available.
Our food concession areas are implementing additional rigorous protocols to increase their already frequent cleaning routine, creating new practices that will distance guests from areas where food is being prepared and other additional protocols to increase food safety.
The Zoo’s historic carousel will not operate during this time.

As you know, the situation with COVID-19 in our community and around the world is fluid and ever-evolving. Visit our website home page at cmzoo.org and click the “alert” link at the top of the page for the most up-to-date information on any changes to our operations that we may need to make.

We are working hard to be a resource for the community during this truly difficult time, and we believe these precautions will help us do that. But, we can’t do it alone. We need your help to reduce risk. Please actively follow the social distancing guidelines outlined above while you’re enjoying the Zoo, and stay vigilant with the precautions you and your family can take, like washing your hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds at a time. Cover your cough. Limit touching your face. Above all else, make responsible decisions for the community and visit us another time if you’re feeling ill, or have been outside of the country or in contact with someone carrying the virus in the last 14 days. We and our animals will enjoy seeing you when you’re feeling better.

Just a few more weeks, and the kids will be out of school for Spring Break! Wondering how you’re going to fill a week off school with enriching and educational entertainment? Have no fear, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is here with fun and WILD experiences for your kiddos: Spring Break Zoo Camp, for kids in kindergarten through sixth grade!

Spring Break Zoo Camp is Monday, March 23 through Friday, March 27, 2020. This year, campers will learn about amazing animal adaptations. Animals all over the world have unique adaptations that help them survive in the wild. They’ll learn about – and see, in person – animals’ defense mechanisms, like porcupine quills, and physical traits that help them thrive in their environments, like the long, furry tail of a snow leopard or the water wicking fur of a river otter. After seeing these amazing adaptations with their own eyes, campers are sure to come home with exciting stories to share about their new animal friends.

For the first time ever, CMZoo is offering half-day and full-day options for kindergarten campers. Full-day camps include an additional afternoon snack and some quiet time to rest after lunch. Campers should sign up for the camp that reflects the grade in which they are currently enrolled. All camps include hands-on experiences, up-close animal encounters, games, tours and more, every single day! Register for the whole week, or just a few days.

Space is limited, so visit www.cmzoo.org/camp to register your campers today!

Back to The Waterhole

For giraffe, hoof health is vital to overall health. As the zoo profession evolves to further embrace animal husbandry training, and new veterinary technologies allow for better diagnostics, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is working to improve the future of giraffe care.

“Horses have been domesticated for thousands of years, and the mantra has been ‘no hoof, no horse,’ meaning the overall health of a horse is connected to the health of its hooves. More and more, we’re embracing that for giraffe,” said Dr. Liza Dadone, vice president of mission and programs at CMZoo. “We don’t yet have all the answers, but we have seen that hoof overgrowth changes how the foot supports the weight of a one-ton body. When an animal distributes that much weight differently because of hoof overgrowth, it can have a huge impact on their joints, ligaments and bones.”

Giraffe hooves grow continuously throughout a giraffe’s life. Ongoing hoof maintenance can help prevent issues commonly associated with hoof overgrowth, like lameness and early onset arthritis. Training giraffe to voluntarily participate in hoof maintenance makes preventive care possible, hopefully avoiding these ailments for future generations of giraffe.

Because it’s such an integral part of CMZoo’s work today, some may be surprised to learn that giraffe hoof care is still in its pioneering phase.

“Before our training program started in 2013, we had limited options for managing hoof overgrowth,” said Dr. Dadone. “We also didn’t fully understand what a ‘normal’ giraffe hoof should look like, because we didn’t have consistent access to the underside of the hoof. Training giraffe to participate in their health care has been a total game changer in the level of care we can provide.”

In the last ten years, CMZoo’s Zoo-wide training programs have flourished. The giraffe care team has been recognized nationally for its training success. In just two years, the giraffe care team, led by Animal Care Manager, Jason Bredahl, and Lead Giraffe Keeper, Amy Schilz, developed safety and training protocols and trained the entire herd of giraffe for front foot hoof trims and x-rays.

“It was unheard of,” said Dr. Dadone. “The giraffe were way smarter than we had given them credit for, and this training gave us opportunities to provide ongoing care without anesthesia.”
Hoof care training techniques include asking the animal to voluntarily approach the team, then lift, position and hold its foot so staff can access it safely.

When working around the feet of a 17-foot-tall, one-ton animal, human safety is crucial. The team developed co-working communication that allows one person to train and keep the giraffe’s attention while the other person performs a hoof trim (or other necessary hoof work). Staff learned which kinds of barriers would best protect them and provide adequate access while working safely around giraffe feet. They also studied behaviors in the giraffe so they could recognize when a giraffe might need a break from hoof work.

Once the herd trained to receive x-rays, the care team found that arthritis, ligament injuries, bone damage, and sometimes fractures were present at a rate they weren’t expecting. This discovery led the team to establish a program that included routine front foot x-rays, thermography, visual assessments and monthly hoof trims.

“We can more accurately diagnose and manage giraffe foot health with less invasive procedures, thanks to training,” said Dr. Dadone. “Now that we know giraffe are prone to these issues, we prioritize training of animals from an early age. The goal is that every giraffe, from one year of age, can have its front feet handled and can receive baseline x-rays. The hope is that we can help the next generation of giraffe avoid some of the issues our older giraffe might be experiencing.”

Young giraffe, like Viv, born at CMZoo in July 2019, start training to participate in their care from an early age. Nearly 8-month-old Viv already participates in prerequisite training that will lead to hoof care training. Her keepers say she is shift-trained, which means she will voluntarily move to another area of the barn or outdoor yard when asked. Viv also shifts into ‘the chute,’ which is a narrow part of the indoor barn that some giraffe move through to receive hoof care and other care.

She participates in target training, as well, which means she will touch her nose to a target held by her trainers. For hoof care or x-ray training, target training helps trainers communicate the very specific location the animal is being asked to move to. Likewise, the target helps animals understand what’s being asked of them.

Viv’s keepers have taught her a ‘back up’ command, which helps Viv get into position for hoof care, among other things. They recently started training Viv to get comfortable with being touched, beginning with her shoulders. Once she’s comfortable with being touched on the shoulders, they will continue progress to eventually touch her hooves, which will get Viv even closer to receiving ongoing hoof care.

As CMZoo’s giraffe care team continues finding new ways to improve the health of animals in their care, they learn from and share best practices with the wider giraffe care community. They do this by attending conferences, hosting CMZoo’s annual giraffe care workshops, and through studies, programs and partnerships with Equine Lameness Prevention Organization, Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Giraffe Conservation Foundation and more.

Back to The Waterhole

Although Water’s Edge: Africa’s opening date hasn’t been set, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is steadily preparing to welcome home Zambezi (zam-BEE-zee) and Kasai (kuh-SIGH), two female Nile hippopotamuses who are taking an extended vacation at Dickerson Park Zoo, in Springfield, Missouri. They moved there in 2016 to allow us to build a new state-of-the-art exhibit for them.

Patty Wallace, Water’s Edge: Africa lead animal keeper, worked with Zambezi and Kasai for six years at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Wallace spent five of those years as their primary trainer. She is excited for guests to get to know the girls again and to see them in their brand-new home.

Kasai is 20 years old and larger than her older sister, Zambezi. Kasai is easily identifiable by the pink spots on the tops of all four of her feet. Zambezi is 27 years old and has a more consistent skin tone than Kasai. Both hippos enjoy participating in training, but Kasai tends to have a more dominant personality, which often means she’s the first to investigate new enrichment or food.

“I’m really excited about rekindling our relationship and getting to know the hippos again,” said Wallace. “We can expect them to be a little cautious coming into this new building, because they’ve never been there before. Part of the challenge is getting them back to the level of comfort they had before. They’re both really food motivated, so I expect it will take a lot of patience, understanding and watermelon to help the girls gain confidence in their new space and with keepers again.”

Only 30 organizations accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums in North America house hippos. In addition to their somewhat rare presence in zoos, Wallace says part of the CMZoo hippos’ appeal is their generally calm and gentle demeanors.

“Hippos are known as one of the most dangerous animals in the world, with incredibly impressive strength and size,” said Wallace. “Zambezi and Kasai have grown up in human care, so they’re used to people. They may scuffle with each other from time to time, but they really are gentle giants.”

A big part of helping the hippos gain confidence in their new home is training the keepers to control the myriad of new building features that will help them care for Zambezi and Kasai. Keepers are getting accustomed to underwater shift doors, hydraulic doors, garage doors, cable-and-bollard systems, water filtration systems, heating and cooling systems, lighting, behind-the-scenes kitchen and enrichment preparation areas, and more.

“We’re also planning our animal demonstrations and enrichment activities, considering how the girls might like to interact with us in this space and what will give our guests a memorable experience,” said Wallace. “We have a ton of opportunities to help guests fall in love with hippos, thanks to the design of this awesome new space.”

Water’s Edge: Africa’s indoor hippo demo space allows guests to get right up close to the hippos, with only bollards in between them and the animals. In the same area, guests can stand on a scale that helps them see how many humans it takes to weigh the same as a hippo. Near the outdoor hippo yard, a nature trail takes guests to a rope bridge that hangs above the hippo yard, giving guests a first-time bird’s eye view of the girls in water and on land. A knife-edge outdoor pool will help guests see the hippos as the hippos see them – just above the water line.

“You can be eye-level with a basking hippo at the knife-edge pool’s viewing area,” said Wallace. “It is going to be such a cool experience. I can’t wait for everyone to visit the new exhibit and hopefully form long-lasting relationships with these beautiful girls.”

At Dickerson Park Zoo, keepers are working with the girls to make them as comfortable as possible for their trip home to CMZoo, including building the hippos’ comfort level with their transport crates.

“We situated their transport crates so they’re part of the entrance to their yard, which allows them to travel through them and be around them regularly,” said Tracy Campbell, senior zookeeper at Dickerson Park Zoo. Campbell has worked with the girls since they arrived in 2016 and has worked with hippos for 20 years. “Once we have an exact timeline for their trip back to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, we’ll increase their crate training time, but for now we’re keeping them acclimated by walking through them.”

Wallace was part of the transport training when the girls first traveled to Springfield.

“We trained with them for about three months before their last transport,” said Wallace. “They traveled in separate crates made of wood and steel. Like Dickerson Park Zoo is doing, we positioned the crates as entrances to the building, so they could walk through them and gain confidence with them over time. They were hesitant at first, but since they’re so food motivated, it didn’t take them long to get the hang of it.”

The trip between Dickerson Park Zoo and Cheyenne Mountain Zoo takes about 11 hours. The hippos travel in their crates inside an enclosed and climate-controlled flatbed truck. Once the hippos are comfortably in their crates, a large crane is used to move the 1.5-ton animals onto the truck. During the transport, the hippos are monitored to address any needs along the way. All went smoothly last time, and CMZoo keepers stayed with the girls at DPZ for about a week to help them settle in.

“I’m excited to have the girls home again,” said Wallace. “In the mornings, I would call ‘good morning, hippos!’ and they’d vocalize and poke up out of the water to look for me. They’d watch and wait for me to prepare their breakfast – and they’d let me know if I was being too slow. They’d walk up the ramp and stare at me, watching my every move. I can’t wait to see them and our guests exploring this amazing new exhibit.”

About Nile 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 ivory, which is found in hippopotamuses’ canine teeth, and meat.

Back to The Waterhole

Seasonal illnesses, like influenza, can wreak havoc on humans this time of year. But, did you know great apes, like orangutans and gorillas, are also susceptible to the flu virus, which impacts an estimated 3 million humans annually?

As Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s year-round sponsor, Children’s Hospital Colorado, provides tips for staying healthy during flu season, Primate World keepers take steps each year to help great apes stay as healthy as possible.

“The great apes are the most susceptible to illnesses that impact human primates, like you and me,” said Dina Bredahl, senior lead keeper in Primate World. “Any primate at the Zoo can catch illnesses from humans, but the risk is increased for great apes because they’re so similar to humans. Orangutans share 97 percent of the same DNA as humans.”

To protect the Bornean and Sumatran orangutans and the Western lowland gorillas at CMZoo, the apes receive the flu vaccine. The flu vaccine is administered by injection, which the Primate World residents train to accept voluntarily. Flu shots are available each fall, but injection training continues throughout the year nearly every day. The training can take months and requires the apes to build upon the trust they have in their keepers. Some of them choose not to participate in injection training, or may not be at a point in their training that keepers feel confident a real injection won’t derail the progress.

“We rely on ‘herd immunity’ to protect the population, so not every single great ape will receive a flu shot,” said Bredahl. “As long as a majority of the gorillas and orangutans receive the vaccine, we drastically reduce their overall risk.”

One example is one-year-old Sumatran orangutan, Kera. Little Kera was at a point in her training that her primary keeper thought a real first-time ‘poke’ might risk a regression in her training. Because the majority of the other primates were further along in training, Kera didn’t receive a shot during the fall flu shot clinic. However, her primary trainer continued training, and Kera has made incredible progress. So much progress, in fact, that she gets excited for the training.

“We’ll use a syringe that doesn’t have a needle, so they get used to seeing the shape and being touched with it,” said Bredahl. “Eventually, we move on to a dull needle, so it looks more similar to the needle we’d use for an actual injection. Kera’s trainer has been so successful that Kera now knows if she presents her hip and then holds still for a moment for the pretend injection, she’ll get a special reward. She presents her hip pretty enthusiastically, which is adorable and impressive since she’s still just an infant!”

Keepers also take steps to avoid transmitting diseases to the great apes.

“Primate World keepers receive flu shots yearly to protect ourselves and the great apes in our care,” said Bredahl. “We also wear medical masks when we prepare their food or are in close protected proximity to them. We wash our hands constantly and practice good hygiene before and after we handle anything they’ll touch or eat.”

Guests can visit CMZoo’s three Bornean orangutans, three Sumatran orangutans and five Western lowland gorillas – and can even see their training during scheduled demonstrations – in Primate World.

Back to The Waterhole

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo has welcomed two domestic ferrets to The Loft! 1-year-old male, Alfred Pennyworth, and 3-year-old female, Harley Quinn, are already target training, create training, meeting guests and learning how to interact on ZOOMobile programs. Come by The Loft and meet this energetic duo next time you’re at the Zoo!

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 with a filler product that has some elasticity. We hope the lining material we apply next will stop those leaks.

Also, in this video, we’re giving you a first-time sneak peek at the Water’s Edge: Africa vacation yard. This outdoor yard and pool will be used by a variety of animals and will be visible to guests on their way to Primate World.

Although we don’t yet have an opening date, we’re getting closer! We’re still aiming to begin introducing animals to the building sometime in March. We’ll keep you posted!

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo received an early Valentine’s gift as a second black howler monkey in just under a year was born yesterday.

Four-year-old howler monkey Charlie gave birth to her second baby on Thursday, Feb. 13 at 7:14 a.m. An early-morning staff member was doing a routine check on Charlie and saw the beginning of the birthing process. Keepers say mom and baby are bonding quickly, and early indicators, like the baby’s curled tail, are showing that the baby is healthy and strong. The gender likely won’t be confirmed for several months.

Charlie gave birth to her first baby, Louie, in March 2019. Charlie showed strong maternal instincts immediately after Louie’s birth, and keepers say she has been exhibiting those same behaviors with this new baby, such as grooming and maintaining chest-to-chest contact. Like most primates, the baby will spend its first several weeks of life clinging to mom, and then the young monkey will begin to explore its surroundings on its own.

Even though big brother Louie seems curious about the new addition, touching the baby’s tail while it was wrapped around Charlie’s back, he has been giving mom and baby the space they need to bond.

After Louie’s birth, first-time father Howie seemed unsure of the baby and kept to himself for the first few days.

“Howie’s reacting very differently to this baby,” said Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Monkey Pavilion keeper Debbie Fenton. “He is incredibly calm and sure of himself this second time around. The entire family was able to stay together all day yesterday and remained in the same space last night, too.”

The happy family of four will continue to stay together in Monkey Pavilion, and Charlie has access to a back den area, as well. Since Charlie prefers to be in the main black howler exhibit, guests may have the opportunity to catch a glimpse of the newborn and its family members.

Charlie and Howie were recommended to breed based on their genetics as part of the Black Howler Monkey Species Survival Plan, managed by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums. This baby’s birth is contributing to a program that is working to help guarantee 100 years of genetic diversity for the species in accredited organizations.

Keepers will keep a close eye on Charlie and her baby, and will be happy to share their joy with Zoo members and guests who come to visit.

“We are so excited that Louie will have a sibling to grow up and play with,” said Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Monkey Pavilion keeper Erika Furnes. “He enjoys playfully wrestling with his parents, and we can’t wait to see the two young howler monkeys play together once his younger sibling is old enough.”

About Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Cheyenne Mountain Zoological Society was founded in 1926. Today, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, America’s only mountain zoo, offers comprehensive education programs, exciting conservation efforts and truly fantastic animal experiences. It is Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s hope that 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 just ten operating without tax support. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo depends on admissions, membership dues, special event attendance and donations for funding.

A team of four CMZoo staff members traveled to Ecuador in December to track critically endangered mountain tapir and speak to local school children about the native species.

They successfully studied and attached GPS collars to five wild tapir. The collars will relay data to prove the roaming ranges of tapir in the Andes Mountains, which we hope will be used to establish protections for their threatened natural habitats.

CMZoo members have voted three times to support ongoing mountain tapir research and conservation efforts in Ecuador. During the upcoming Membership Conservation Grant Vote, members will help us decide again which projects receive part of the $75,000 of membership revenue annually allocated for these grants.

https://www.facebook.com/CMZoo/videos/236694087334330/

Running a zoo requires a substantial amount of water. There are guest facilities, water features in animal habitats, cleaning and sanitation, horticulture, food and beverage services, maintenance and, of course, human and animal water consumption to consider.

Leaning on his background in horticulture, environmental education and ecology, and his involvement in global conservation projects, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo President and CEO, Bob Chastain, decided to make Cheyenne Mountain Zoo the first ‘water neutral’ zoo in the world. So, he worked with the experts at Trout Unlimited (TU) to offset the Zoo’s water usage through a unique new program.

“We use about 16 million gallons of water a year,” said Chastain. “In the last several years through our own internal programs, we’ve reduced our water usage by about half, but we still use a lot of water. We live in a drought state, so I wanted to find a way to give that water back, so to speak, to the rivers in Colorado. With Trout Unlimited’s help, we can do that.”

A nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and restoration of habitat for trout and salmon, Trout Unlimited (TU) operates a program in the Rio Grande basin of southern Colorado. Under the program, TU arranges for releases of water from storage reservoirs to augment river flows for the benefit of trout populations and the riverine environment. For water year 2020, which runs from Oct. 1, 2019 to Sept. 30, 2020, Trout Unlimited will release 51 acre-feet of water from storage to the Rio Grande River or its tributaries on the Zoo’s behalf. The Zoo donated $15,000 of conservation funds to Trout Unlimited to support these releases.

Chastain is an outdoorsman. He likes to spend time rafting, fishing, hunting and hiking in the wild places along the Arkansas and Rio Grande Rivers. Over the last few summers, he has noticed a distinct decline in river water levels between early and late summer.

“I was rafting the Arkansas River late last summer and the difference in just a month and a half, since I had last rafted it, was dramatic,” said Chastain. “That got me thinking that if there was some way to contribute to water levels when they’re low during the winter months, we could make an impact.”

Roughly ninety percent of Colorado’s water supply is used by farmers and ranchers, according to Trout Unlimited, and this agricultural water use drives rural economies. Rivers also support many important functions in our state: feeding diverse ecosystems of plants and animals; generating tourism and making an economic impact on local business through its fishing, hunting, camping and whitewater sports; and transporting water from reservoirs to those who need it.

“Water rights use and administration in Colorado is extremely complex and each basin operates differently. TU’s approach is to use local staff who engage with water users and facilitate opportunities to do more with a critical and limited resource,” said Kevin Terry, Trout Unlimited’s Rio Grande Basin Project manager. “For instance, TU can inform water users on the needs of the environment and fishery, identifying partnership opportunities that farmers and ranchers can take advantage of if it works for their operations. The whole effort is like a giant dynamic puzzle, and TU brings expertise relating to specific pieces, which helps the water community of the Rio Grande be strategic and holistic in efforts to maximize the benefits of our precious water.”

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is supporting Trout Unlimited’s program to partner with water users and incentivize them to re-time portions of their water for delivery during the winter months when possible. Restoring stream flows below working reservoirs during the winter months, while simultaneously satisfying water-user needs, creates a better balance of water delivery for the environment, and the people who rely on it.

“We are grateful for our partnership with the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo,” said Terry. “With forward-thinking partners like the Zoo, TU is greatly improving habitat conditions for trout in the Rio Grande basin.”

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 2019, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo was voted #6 Best Zoo in North America and CMZoo’s Rocky Mountain Wild was named #5 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 just a few operating without tax support. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo depends on admissions, membership dues, special event attendance and donations for funding.

About Trout Unlimited

Trout Unlimited is a national non-profit organization that works to protect, reconnect and restore habitat for coldwater fisheries.