The Waterhole Archives - Page 22 of 36

Next month, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo will move forward with revised plans to contribute to the Amur tiger Species Survival Plan. Since 9-year-old female Amur tiger, Savelii, arrived at CMZoo in November 2019 on a breeding recommendation, she has been settling in, getting to know her keepers, training for important husbandry behaviors, and participating in ‘howdies’ with Chewy, our 5-year-old male Amur tiger.

Howdies are opportunities for animals to see, smell and hear each other with a protective barrier in between them. If animals consistently show positive signs of interest in each other, the next step is to introduce them without a barrier for incrementally increasing periods of time. But, just because they’re genetically compatible doesn’t always mean they are compatible as individuals.

“We haven’t seen behaviors between Chewy and Savelii that encourage us to introduce them without barriers,” said Rebecca Zwicker, Asian Highlands animal care manager. “Big cat breeding can be risky, in the wild and in human care – even when animals have spent positive time together without barriers. We’ve decided to take advantage of the technology available to us so we can hopefully contribute to the tiger SSP without putting Chewy and Savelii into a potentially dangerous scenario together.”

In the coming weeks, CMZoo will welcome a team of reproductive specialists to help with collecting semen from Chewy and artificially inseminating Savelii. Historically, artificial insemination in tigers has been unsuccessful a majority of the time, but with new methods in place, the team has high hopes.

The team will inseminate Savelii in two different ways: traditionally, through transcervical insemination, and with a newer method by which the sperm is placed directly into Savelii’s oviducts. The hopefully fertilized eggs would then move into Savelii’s uterus, where cubs would develop over a three-and-a-half-month gestation period.

“The best chance for this to be successful is by using recently collected sperm, which is why we’re collecting from Chewy that same day,” said Dr. Jon Romano, head veterinarian at CMZoo. “We want to do everything we can to help bring Savelii’s valuable genetics into the population, so we’re potentially using a combination of three different samples: a frozen sample previously collected from Chewy, the sperm we collect from Chewy that day, and an additional frozen sample from other tigers genetically compatible with Savelii.”

Female tigers are induced ovulators, which means the act of mating has previously been the only way for the female to release an egg for fertilization. But, breakthroughs in reproductive science have shown that with the assistance of hormone therapy, artificial insemination has a higher margin of success than it used to.

Savelii has been taking hormones to modify her cycling. In the days before her procedure, she’ll participate in her own health care to get a series of voluntary injections that will stimulate her to ovulate.

The newer oviduct procedure is laparoscopic, meaning it involves small incisions which reduce recovery time and chances of infection, as opposed to more invasive surgeries. Still, any time an animal goes under anesthesia and has incisions, there are risks involved, so Savelii will stay inside her den for at least a week after her procedure. This time in her modified dens will allow keepers to closely monitor Savelii’s incision sites while she heals.

Savelii’s care team has been collecting baseline fecal samples that will help confirm whether or not Savelii is pregnant in the weeks following the procedure. In addition to comparing her baseline hormone levels in fecal samples to new fecal samples collected over the next several weeks, they’ll monitor behaviors, like nesting or mammary changes, which are common in tigers in the days leading up to birth.

“We don’t want to anesthetize Savelii if we don’t absolutely have to, so we’re relying on her rockstar training status to help us monitor in other ways, like voluntary x-rays, blood draws and checking for weight gain,” said Zwicker.

Ultrasounds on tigers are dangerous because of the contact staff would have to make with the tiger to get quality imaging, so there are no plans to attempt that.

There’s no exact timeline, but the team estimates if Savelii is pregnant, they would know by about two months into the three-and-a-half-month gestation. According to the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Amur tigers have three cubs, on average. They have been known to have up to seven cubs, but sadly, not all of the cubs usually survive from larger litters. The mortality rate of tiger cubs is high, with only about half of them surviving to maturity.

Male tigers don’t typically play a role in the birth or in raising cubs, so Chewy and Savelii will continue to rotate access to their multiple indoor and outdoor spaces. If Savelii does have cubs, she and the youngsters will likely be in a space that doesn’t present the clumsy little ones with complicated obstacles, like the waterfall and pool in the main yard, until they get their bearings. Cubs are born with their eyes closed, so they are completely dependent on their mothers. They typically open their eyes between six and twelve days after birth.

Amur tigers, previously known as Siberian tigers, are endangered, with fewer than 500 individuals in the wild. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Amur tiger Species Survival Plan (SSP) contributes to the success of an assurance population of animal ambassadors in human care that advocate for their wild relatives, and inspire people to support important conservation efforts. Some SSPs also contribute to wild populations, or could in the future.

“We’re excited about the opportunity we have to contribute to the survival of this incredible species,” said Zwicker. “These two are amazing animal ambassadors for their wild counterparts, with such outgoing personalities. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that all goes well in March, and we’ll be able to share little Saveliis and Chewys with the world soon.”

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Degu (pronounced ‘DAY-goo’)? What in the world is a degu? Most people have never heard of these pint-sized rodents that are native to the grassy slopes of the Andes Mountains, in South America. Chinchillas and guinea pigs are close relatives of the degu. Now, along with chinchillas and guinea pigs, a degu has joined our Cheyenne Mountain Zoo family!

Meet Diego! He’s a 3-month-old common degu and the newest resident of The Loft. Part of Diego’s new role as an animal ambassador is to help educate guests to do research before bringing a new pet into your life. It’s important to learn about diets, habitats and enrichment needs of a new pet, along with any local species regulations. Several states restrict having certain species as pets. Degus are not legal as household pets in Colorado, but they are in other states. Colorado has these rules in place to help protect our beautiful ecosystems, because some species, like degus, could quickly become an invasive species that could disrupt the natural balance.

Next time you visit the Loft, be sure to look out for Diego! He is very curious and can be heard making quiet chirps as he explores his home, so listen closely as you approach him. Diego is already training to do encounters like ZOOMobile, Meet-and-Greets, and other EdVenture programs. To find out more about these programs and all the other animals that you could connect with, visit cmzoo.org/animals.

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What’s small, has a wiggly nose and adorable eyes, and feels like a cactus? A hedgehog!

The Loft at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is now home to two adorable African pygmy hedgehogs, named Mantis and Groot. These animal ambassadors are sisters, and are about a year and a half old. Hedgehogs are primarily solitary, so you will find them housed separately but next to each other in The Loft.

They look a lot alike, but if you look closely, you will see that Groot is a bit bigger than Mantis. Mantis weighs about 425 grams (less than a pound) and Groot weighs 625 grams (about one and a half pounds). We weigh our hedgehogs in grams, not in pounds like people or bigger animals. One gram is about equal to the weight of one paperclip, so if you get bored you can count out 625 paperclips to see just how much Groot weighs!

Mantis and Groot have started training for all sorts of activities as animal ambassadors. They have already done some virtual meet-and-greets, some ZOOMobile visits, and have even travelled to a local news station for a live interview on TV.

They are almost ready to create animal art and participate in meet-and-greets, too. Mantis and Groot are nocturnal, which means they love to sleep all day. But, once they are awake, they love to explore new spaces, smell new smells, and eat some tasty bugs.

Mantis and Groot are the newest additions to The Loft, but we also have Flora, the three-banded armadillo, and Bean, the two-toed sloth, that recently joined The Loft family, as well. All of these animal friends are ready (or almost ready) to participate in animal encounters. So, if you are interested in meeting our new hedgehogs, armadillo or sloth, be sure to visit cmzoo.org/meet or cmzoo.org/paint to find the perfect way to get up close! On your next visit to the Zoo, swing by The Loft to check out these new additions.

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Primate World keepers are working with Sumagu, a 33-year-old female Sumatran orangutan on behaviors that allow her to participate voluntarily in her long-term health care. The incredibly intelligent ape has learned new husbandry behaviors, including EKG and blood draw training.

Come behind the scenes with Sumagu and her keepers to learn how they customize her training for her unique preferences, and how the data they collect helps apes in human care across the country.

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Abuto, our 9-year-old African lion patriarch, is participating in impressive training that supports his ongoing health care, thanks to the creativity and dedication of his animal care team.

We have been keeping you informed as Abuto’s kidney disease and high blood pressure progress, and these two new behaviors – a ‘drink’ cue and subcutaneous fluid administration – help prepare Abuto and his team for if-and-when he starts to decline.

You normally see Abuto hanging out on pride rock, overlooking Colorado Springs with his pride, but today, you’ll join him behind the scenes for two short training sessions that took place between his time outside and in the comfy Relaxation Room in African Rift Valley.

[This video shows up-close subcutaneous fluid administration, so if you don’t like needles, you’ll want to skip over the poke about 1:15 into the video.]

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Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s conservation partners are still hard at work on the front lines, despite the pandemic that has slowed much of the world. The Zoo and our supporters continue to send funding to important efforts around the world, including Operation Twiga, a giraffe conservation project in Uganda, and Tsavo Trust, an elephant and rhino conservation organization in Kenya.

Operation Twiga began in 2016 to establish new populations of giraffe in safe habitats by translocating healthy, breeding giraffe from existing populations to form new herds in safer habitats.

“It takes a village to save giraffe,” said Stephanie Fennessy, Giraffe Conservation Foundation director. “Operation Twiga V is another conservation success realized by the Uganda Wildlife Authority in partnership with the Giraffe Conservation Foundation and financially supported by CMZoo, the Kratt family and many other donors.”

Thanks to CMZoo’s Quarters for Conservation program, whereby 75¢ from every admission to the Zoo is contributed to conservation, our guests are once again making an impact for wildlife and wild places. Although COVID-19 prevented CMZoo staff from attending the Operation Twiga V translocation, as they have in previous years, teams on the ground in Uganda continued this important work, with Operation Twiga V – the sixth giraffe conservation translocation.

Operation Twiga V (2020) was a continuation of Operation Twiga IV (2019). Both translocations contributed to populations in Pian Upe Wildlife Reserve, an historic habitat in Uganda where giraffe hadn’t existed for more than 20 years.

“We’re so grateful for our guests’ continued support of the Zoo, which allows us to continue supporting these important conservation efforts,” said Dr. Liza Dadone, vice president of mission and programs at CMZoo. “Last year, CMZoo assisted on-site with Operation Twiga IV, in Uganda, but because of COVID-19, we couldn’t attend this time. That’s another reason why it’s so valuable to continue partnering with front line organizations. They can keep the work going, and we can keep supporting them while we can’t be there with them.”

For more information about Operation Twiga V, please read this article from Giraffe Conservation Foundation.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s Quarters for Conservation program also allowed us to send more support to Tsavo Trust – 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.

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 (KSW) 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 and its guests funded two clean water stations, known as boreholes, in communities near Tsavo National Park. The effort is a project under Tsavo Trust’s Community Conservancy Program. The program aims to improve local wildlife relations with local community members, by creating secure buffers bordering protected areas of Tsavo National Park. Tsave Trust also reaches out to nearby communities who have, “faced serious hardships, such as lack of water, food insecurity, and constant human-wildlife conflicts, resulting in a negative perception towards wildlife,” according to Tsavo Trust’s most recent conservation update to CMZoo.

The availability of clean drinking water improves the quality of life for members of these important nearby communities, and helps foster goodwill between Tsavo Trust and their neighbors, who can help save wildlife. Tsavo Trust representatives say the community members have been made aware that “the water has come from the elephants.”

Since 2008, CMZoo’s Quarters for Conservation program has helped guests send more than $3 million to conservation efforts around the world, and right here in Colorado. Every visit to CMZoo is conservation is action.

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He’s quadrupled in size, started training and is growing his first set of antlers – Our 8-month-old Alaska moose, Atka, has been with us for half a year – and what a busy six months it has been! We’re looking back at his progress and filling you in on what’s next for this quickly growing guy.

Before he even arrived at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, his team was working to make his habitat safe for him. The moose yard was already set up for an adult moose, but Atka only weighed about 90 pounds when he first came to live in Rocky Mountain Wild in July 2020, so there was plenty of ‘baby-proofing’ to do.

CMZoo grounds and maintenance crews installed fencing with smaller openings for Atka’s safety – better suited for a moose calf. Within that exterior boundary fencing, his team created a smaller boundary that prevented access to complicated parts of the yard, like the culvert and pond. The smaller yard meant he could get used to his new home and his rapidly growing moose legs one step at a time. As he became more confident and grew in size, he gained more access to the large outdoor space.

Atka, who was unfortunately orphaned in the wild in Alaska when his mother was involved in a fatal human-wildlife conflict, was still being hand-fed three bottles per day. Over the next several months, his team introduced grain and browse, otherwise known as tree branches, and reduced the number of bottles he received until he was completely weaned. Atka, like other moose in human care, also quickly developed a taste for bananas, which made the not-so-fun transition away bottles a little more bearable. The bottles were helpful in developing initial bonds with his keepers, and bananas are a favorite treat now.

“He was hesitant about some of us at first, but also curious from day one,” said Kristen Cox, Rocky Mountain Wild keeper. “Sometimes, when we’d clean his yard, he’d come right up and put his nose under our arms and smell the tools we were using, then sniff the bags we used to clean up and stomp on them. It was really ‘helpful’ and fun to see he wanted to approach us and see what we were doing.”

At first, Atka wasn’t used to his new people, so keepers slowly worked to teach him that when they were near and touched him on the back or neck that he would be safe, and would be rewarded – usually with a bottle and later with half a banana. He needed to be comfortable with physical touch as a first step toward learning behaviors that are important to his long-term health, like voluntary hoof care, injection training, x-rays, blood draws and more.

The keepers and Atka developed a trusting relationship over time, and the young moose has become quite the scholar. He’s already learning all of the above mentioned husbandry behaviors, thanks to his keepers who worked with him at his own pace and respected any time he chose not to participate. Now, he’s comfortable with people he doesn’t see daily, too, like the CMZoo veterinary team and staff visitors who come by to visit.

At about 380 pounds (yes, he has quadrupled in size since he came to CMZoo – and could likely grow to about 1,600 pounds at his prime), Atka doesn’t get visitors inside his yard anymore, so he’s also learned to consistently approach his keepers at his training panel, right next to his barn.

As he interacts more and more with his keepers, they’re learning his quirks and demeanor.

“I think he’s coming into his own after so many changes in such a short time,” said Kelsey Walker, Rocky Mountain Wild keeper. “He’s really energetic and playful. He likes to rub his face against our knuckles and gently play-spar with us that way. He’ll also run with us if we’re walking by on the path. He’ll see us and we’ll say, ‘Hey, moose!’ and he sprints over to us and zooms around all excited.”

He also seems to share a curiosity about giraffe, like many CMZoo fans.

“One day, the giraffe keepers let us have some of their browse for him,” said Sarah Dugger, Rocky Mountain Wild keeper. “Normally when we give him browse, he just devours it. It’s his favorite, next to bananas. But this browse had been in the giraffe barn for a couple of hours, so it smelled like giraffe. He was smelling it and rubbing against it and just looked really interested in what this strange smell was. Then, he ate it.”

What’s next for young Atka? More eating and growing, of course, and his first set of antlers.

“I’m so excited to see how big he gets,” said Dugger. “We keep hearing how big Alaska moose are. How tall will he get? How much will he weigh? What will his antlers look like? It’s going to be cool to see how his behavior changes in rut, when his antlers are fully developed, too. There’s a lot to look forward to.”

Male moose grow a new set of antlers each year and shed them every winter. Each set of antlers is unique, but go through about the same annual growth cycle. During rut, when typically solitary wild male moose battle other males for territory and access to female moose, their testosterone peaks. Although Atka won’t need to battle for his territory, his hormones will still likely lead him to instinctive sparring behaviors. To fulfill this instinct, keepers will provide him with large barrels and other items to rub his antlers against (and probably spar with occasionally).

On social media, Atka fans can keep up with his antler development with a new series, #AtkaAntlerWatch, published monthly on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. His first set of antlers started to form in November, but have really taken off in the last month or so. During each photo or video update on social media, Atka’s keepers will attempt to measure his antler growth. We say ‘attempt’ because this will not be an exact measurement, as Atka recently showed us he might be more interested in trying to taste the wooden ruler than being measured by it. As of the first update, on Jan. 25, 2021, his adorable antler ‘nubbins’ are about two inches tall, and are covered in fuzzy moose calf fur.

Soon, keepers will start introducing Atka to his pond – a next step his keepers say they can’t wait to see.

“It’ll be neat to see if he swims, because moose dive to eat underwater vegetation and can actually swim,” said Cox.
“I wonder if he’s going to get the zoomies in the water!” said Dugger.

Keep up with Atka’s exciting progress on the Zoo’s social media channels and by visiting him in Rocky Mountain Wild, voted the #2 Best Zoo Exhibit in North America by USA TODAY’s Readers’ Choice contest in 2020.

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Our mountain lions are – like many of us – adjusting to a new normal. Seven-month-old Koda is now living full-time with 1-year-old mountain lion siblings, Adira and Sitka!

Because Koda was so much smaller than Adira and Sitka, and because he was found alone at such a young age, introducing the three cougars was a delicate process. Koda was excited to be with Adira and Sitka, but because he didn’t have a mother or siblings around to teach him how to be a mountain lion, he didn’t quite know the etiquette.

Learn from Courtney, Rocky Mountain Wild lead keeper, about the adjustments keepers made for the three mountain lions, and how Koda learned from Adira and Sitka throughout the process.

Our partner, Children’s Hospital Colorado, recognizes that we all continue to adjust our lives to find a balance these days. After you learn about how Koda, Adira and Sitka adjusted to their new normal, check out this parenting resource from CHCO, with tips on how your family can continue to adjust to its new normal.

Next time you’re at the Zoo, come by Rocky Mountain Wild to see our three young mountain lions as they grow together as a family unit.

Join Al and Phil, Water’s Edge: Africa keepers, for an update on Biko, Kasai and Zambezi, our three Nile hippos. Biko, our 18-year-old male, joined us in June, and has been developing a strong relationship with Zambezi. Biko is here on a breeding recommendation with Zambezi and Kasai, who are sisters. Learn more from their keepers about how these three are doing, and whether a baby hippo might be in our future!

Since Zena, our 6-year-old female Red River hog, joined us in 2019, African Rift Valley keepers have been working to introduce her and Huey, our 13-year-old male. The two hogs are getting along great, and keepers have even seen promising behaviors to support their breeding recommendation. Join Brooke, African Rift Valley keeper, for an update on these two.