My Big Backyard is home to a brand-new button-nosed furry face! Help us welcome Hubble, a 4-month-old Virginia opossum, to CMZoo.

“We named him Hubble because he’s still growing into his big ears, which kind of resemble the space telescope,” said Bryce Oberg, keeper in The Loft and My Big Backyard.

Hubble lives next to Guy Fieri, CMZoo’s rooster, in an upward-built habitat that’s perfect for the very active arboreal baby boy. Guests can see him right away. Hubble’s care team is already hard at work preparing him for his future role as an ambassador for his species.

Hubble came to CMZoo from a wildlife rescue facility in Kansas after being found alone in the wild with a severely broken tail. Once he made it to CMZoo, his care team decided his best option was to amputate his tail, so Hubble has quite a unique look. Because he has learned to navigate without a tail from a young age, keepers haven’t seen Hubble’s unique difference slow him down at all. They report he’s quite the skilled climber, and his curiosity has already motivated keepers to adjust his perching because he has reached parts of his home they didn’t think he could.

“We will probably never know what Hubble encountered before being rescued, but we’re happy he’s starting to settle in here with us,” said Oberg. “He has been through a lot of changes in his short life, but he’s resilient. We’re working with him daily to earn his trust, which is a first step toward training with him. We’re taking him tasty treats and sitting calmly near him, so he can see that he’s safe and has choices when he’s with us.”

Next, he’ll train to voluntarily enter his transport crate, get comfortable with being touched, and then he’ll learn to interact safely with guests as an ambassador. Their goal for Hubble – once he’s ready – is to serve as an outreach ambassador, educating people about his species’ many wonders.

“There are a lot of misconceptions about opossums because when they feel threatened, they can look pretty scary with their big mouths full of 50 teeth – the most teeth of any North American mammal,” said Oberg. “But, they have to look scary because their defenses pretty much end there. If we respect opossums’ warning signs and give them space when they tell us they need it, 99 percent of the time they will move on with their peaceful opossum lives.”

There is one defense that opossums are famous for, which admittedly leaves them more vulnerable than unnerving: playing dead.

“When opossums play dead, it’s a last-ditch effort to make their perceived predators think they’re not going to be a good meal,” said Oberg. “It’s an involuntary response that is triggered when they’re startled or stressed. They release a really bad smell so they smell like they’ve been dead for a long time, their heartrate decreases, they drool excessively, stick their tongue out and fall over.”

Opossums have been known to play dead for hours at a time. So, as a general rule, if you see an opossum that isn’t moving and isn’t obviously injured, leave it alone. It could be playing dead and will wake up and move away on its own. If it’s been lying there for more than a day, it’s good practice to have it removed. If it’s in a road, call wildlife authorities to move it.

Opossums are slow moving, have poor eyesight and are nocturnal, which presents a lot of obstacles for North America’s only native marsupial. But, there’s a lot to love about opossums. The presence of opossums is an indication of a healthy ecosystem. They are opportunistic omnivores, which means they’ll eat just about anything. As scavengers, they are part of nature’s clean-up crew. They feed on carrion and help prevent the spread of diseases in carcasses, just like vultures do. They’re naturally resistant to snake venom, so they can safely eat snakes, which helps control the venomous snake population. Because of their naturally low body temperature, they’re virtually incapable of carrying rabies. They also eat ticks, which prevents the spread of tick-borne illnesses.

“Hubble has a long way to go before he can meet guests up-close, but we’re already seeing how inquisitive, resilient and energetic this little guy is,” said Oberg. “Once he’s ready, we’ll be excited for him to join us on walkabouts in the Zoo and on outreach programs.

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In the wild, animals spend a lot of time and energy foraging or hunting for food. Feeding our animals seems like a pretty fundamental task of animal care, but it’s more complicated than one might think. Just like our partners at Children’s Hospital Colorado talk about foods that can have calming effects for kids, we work to present our animals’ special diets in ways that nourish their bodies and support their natural instincts.

Wild animals have to solve problems and exert physical energy to feed themselves, which is good for their physical fitness and their mental well-being. Here at the Zoo, we provide opportunities for our animals to fulfill their instinctive hunting or foraging behaviors by hanging food high, or burying it, or placing it in a puzzle feeder that requires focus and dexterity to reach.

“We work hard to create environments and provide daily activities that enrich our animals’ lives, but some people might not immediately recognize that their meals are another opportunity for enrichment,” said Rachael Hahn, lead keeper in African Rift Valley. “I get to work with one of the most iconic hunting species out there: African lions. In the wild and in human care, African lions typically sleep 20 to 22 hours a day, but when they’re active, they’re certainly making up for lost time. They’re unbelievably smart, incredibly strong and as confident as they come.”

Hahn and her team in African Rift Valley make meal time mentally and physically stimulating for Abuto, the 10-year-old pride patriarch; Lomela, 14-year-old matriarch; Elsa, their 6-year-old daughter; and Boma and Aslan, their 6-year-old sons. In addition to scattering food throughout their large yard, the team hangs big pieces of meat up high in a tree for our African lions, so they have to climb up and drag it down, like they would do with some prey in the wild.

“We have been doing this for a couple of years where guests can see it, and the lions seem to really enjoy working for their rewards,” said Hahn. “We also put meat inside some of their giant plastic boomer balls, and have seen the lions ‘playing’ more often, even when food isn’t involved. I’ve seen Lomela, who’s nearly 15, playing with toys like she’s a kitten again. Since making this addition to their routine, we’ve seen them exhibiting calmer behaviors at other times of the day, which is a great indication that they’re mentally fulfilled thanks to these additional opportunities to solve problems.”

Water’s Edge: Africa keepers provide meal-driven enrichment opportunities for the high-energy, intelligent residents of Lemur Island, too. The ring-tailed lemurs at CMZoo get the chance to frequently dine-and-dash, because their meals encourage them to, and the family’s diets are rarely presented in the same way.

“Lemurs are one of few primate species that forage from the ground, up high in the trees, and everywhere in between,” said Al Carrier, Water’s Edge: Africa keeper. “They’re super smart, so we get creative finding new places to stash their food. It’s kind of like an Easter egg hunt every time we place their meals on Lemur Island for them, and it’s fun to watch them scurry and leap around, finding their delicious rewards.”

Keepers also use puzzle feeders that the lemurs can use their long fingers and impressive fine motor skills to retrieve food from. They hang food in spheres that require the lemurs to stretch, climb and leap to reach. They also get seasonal delicacies, like browse.

“In the wild, lemurs eat tree leaves and buds, so we provide that as often as possible for our lemurs,” said Carrier. “We bring in fresh browse – otherwise known as tree branches – from our community and sometimes from our shipping container farm, here at the Zoo. They love to search for the buds on those branches in the spring because they make a nice sweet treat.”

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Join Atka for training! Our one-year-old Alaska moose has been busy learning new husbandry behaviors that allow his Rocky Mountain Wild team to care for him and his unique needs. Get a keepers’ eye view of hoof care and injection training with Atka, while his primary trainer, Erika, explains why and how they incorporated these behaviors into Atka’s care plan.

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At the end of February, Malaika, one of six aging female African elephants at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, was experiencing increasing mobility issues and severe changes in her appetite. After a few days of close monitoring and treatments to help her symptoms, she started to bounce back and has since continued to trend in the right direction. Although her team is happy to see her improve, they’re realistic, because Malaika – like all of the elephants at CMZoo – will have challenges for the rest of her life. Malaika has a lifelong issue with bowing and lack of strength in right rear leg, which is worsening as she ages.

“Some people are surprised to hear that our elephants deal with some kind of ailment, from time to time, but that’s why they’re here with us,” said Jason Bredahl, Encounter Africa animal care manager. “Our elephant center was designed specifically to care for aging female elephants and to help them with physical challenges as they age. Our keepers and veterinary staff are some of the most knowledgeable elephant experts in the profession. With our experience and the support of our colleagues, our Golden Girls are in great hands here. They’re living their best lives with us.”

Malaika is one of six “Golden Girls” in Encounter Africa, along with Missy, Kimba, Lucky, Jambo and LouLou. They’re all African elephants, but have unique personalities and some distinguishable physical features that help CMZoo visitors recognize and enjoy their individual personalities.

At 52, Missy is one of the oldest African elephants in human care in accredited zoos. She’s often in the yard with LouLou, 39, who is the easiest elephant to identify because she doesn’t have tusks. Kimba, 44, and Jambo, 39, are the largest of the group, weighing around 8,500 pounds each. Lucky, 43, is an enthusiastic mud wallower, and can be seen covering herself with mud in the yards. Malaika, 36, is one of the sassiest in the herd, who frequently carries logs, tires and puzzle feeders. She usually prefers to spend solo time in one of their many exhibit spaces at the Zoo, but hangs out with Kimba and Lucky for social time, too.

Just like humans, the health of each elephant is individual, sometimes regardless of age or environment. Malaika, the youngest of the herd, has experienced perhaps the most life-threatening issues and Missy, the eldest, has been in relatively good health for her age. The elephant care team works to help them comfortably enjoy their golden years, knowing that things can change quickly for them and that even our specialized care has its limits.

“There’s quite a range in their ages, and it’s not necessarily true that the older elephants need more specialized care than their younger friends do,” said Bredahl. “Over time, some have experienced weak limbs or digestive issues, some have arthritis, some have issues with their feet or tusks, and some have all of the above. We work to proactively lessen the impact of expected age-related issues and address anything else that pops up along the way.”

The dedicated Encounter Africa keepers, along with Bredahl, know these elephants like members of their own family. They work so closely with the ladies that they can usually ‘just tell’ if something is off, based on knowing each elephant’s individual behaviors and routines.

“We develop the skills to read their individual behaviors and know their patterns and tendencies,” said Bredahl. “We definitely have bonds with them and can usually tell what kind of a day they’re having based on their responses to training or enrichment activities. The equipment in our elephant center allows us to provide specialized care for them, but our relationships with the elephants guide those care plans, too.”

The Wilgruen Elephant Center, in Encounter Africa, at CMZoo is like a retirement community for elder elephants in the zoo world. This team and environment provide the very best in aging elephant care. Elements of the specialized elephant center include rubberized flooring, natural substrate throughout most of the barn, surveillance that allows the team to check on the ladies overnight, and spaces with activities designed to keep them moving.

The team consistently monitors each elephant’s daily behaviors, too. The elephant care team assesses and documents each elephant every day, so they can spot any trends that need to be addressed. Keepers track each elephant’s appetite, their mobility and interest in training, for example, along with individual indicators that reveal progress or declines in specific ailments, like a stiff knee or ongoing digestive issue. The team reviews each elephant’s data regularly, and makes adjustments to their environment, treatments or routines with hopes to maintain their quality of life.

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Join Jason, elephant animal care manager at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, and Malaika for an update.

In case you missed our previous communications, Malaika has a history of health challenges, and has had far more good days than bad ones in her life. Last Thursday, we told you she was dealing with worsening mobility issues and a fluctuating appetite, which started in early February. We were really concerned about her at the end of last week.

On Sunday, we shared that she seemed to be brightening, and she was eating more. Her appetite has increased significantly over the last few days, and she has eaten nearly her normal amount of food every night since Sunday, which is great.

Her team continues to monitor and address her ongoing mobility issues. We’re hopeful because she seems to be on the right track, but we do know from this experience how quickly things can change for her. We’re cautiously optimistic, and her care team is working hard to encourage her to keep eating, drinking and moving.

Thank you for your continued support and compassion as our team navigates this complex situation. For now, we’re breathing a little easier, and we’ll let you know if we see any significant change in her either way.

To learn more, visit cmzoo.org/malaika.

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February is Heart Month, and just like our partners at Children’s Hospital Colorado encourage preventive and well-care visits, our great apes participate in ongoing maintenance and preventive care for their heart health. Go behind the scenes with Amy, senior keeper in Primate World, and her team as they ask Sumagu, Baka, and Goma to show us their husbandry training with an EKG, blood pressure reader, blood draws and cardiac ultrasound. Even young Kera shows her interest in the training!

Unfortunately, we have documented heart disease in some of CMZoo’s great apes. Because heart disease is prevalent in their species – just like it is with humans – CMZoo’s Primate World team works with the orangutans and Western lowland gorillas to get regular readings so they can adjust the great apes’ medications, exercise routines or diets to hopefully prevent disease progression.

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It’s hard to pinpoint the exact moment a story begins, but the end of the story could be near for Malaika [muh-LIE-kuh], a 36-year-old female African elephant. We think this story started for us about 17 years ago when the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Board decided to build a facility especially for aging female elephants, but that doesn’t make anticipating a loss any easier.

As humans, we deal with death from a young age. Our first experience may be with a beloved pet. At some point we all lose someone close to us. All loss is painful, but we know that some goodbyes are going to hurt especially bad.

This is true for our Zoo family, too. We know we are going to grieve deeply when it’s a certain animal’s time to go. Malaika is one of those animals. Combine an entire organization in various stages of grief with the logistics required for the sheer size of the animal we’re focusing on now, and you have an extremely complex and delicate situation.

Malaika has a history of health challenges, and has had far more good days than bad ones in her life. But, recently, she showed us signs that it might soon be her time to leave us, including worsening mobility issues and a fluctuating appetite.

After not eating regularly for a couple of days, Malaika’s appetite returned on Wednesday morning, when she ate, among other things, 11 blueberry bagels. Keepers said she seemed a little brighter.

By Wednesday evening, we were back to being more worried than ever for her. A couple of hours later, there was another light, when she ate again. Thursday morning, she ate and drank a little bit more. The situation is changing by the hour, and we are prepared for the worst while we reflect on her life and her mortality.

“Malaika loves people, and Malaika is easy to love,” said Annie Dinwiddie, senior elephant keeper. “She has social opportunities with the other elephants, but she usually chooses to be close to us keepers. It’s like she has adopted us as her own herd, and she’s really tuned into us.”

Malaika is a sensory elephant. She notices immediately if Dinwiddie is wearing a new lotion or used a different soap. She’ll give Dinwiddie a certain look, then she’ll slowly breathe in the new smell while looking at her keeper as if she has many questions about it.

“Malaika will hold out for the best training rewards possible,” said Jake Jachim, elephant keeper. “She loves training, but sometimes she’ll do the behavior we’ve asked for, and she’ll sense that she has a choice in how she’s being rewarded. I have seen her smell a reward in her keeper’s hand and completely bypass it for what was in their other hand. Like, ‘thanks, but I’ll take this instead.’”

Malaika, who came to CMZoo in 2008, loves to knock down trees and pick up giant logs to throw them across the yard. She also loves making noise. If you’ve been lucky enough to hear an elephant trumpeting during a visit, there’s a good chance it was Malaika.

Even while she’s not feeling well, her keeper team knows they can count on resilient Malaika to participate so they can care for her. Dinwiddie remembers after what could have been a life-threatening fall that Malaika took in 2019, she kept fighting. After working for hours to stand back up with her team’s help, Malaika was exhausted, but still allowed her keepers to give her oral medications.

With the support of her team and specialized equipment, Malaika has fought her way through two potentially fatal falls – once in 2018 and again in 2019. During her previous episodes, we held on tight to hope, as we do now. We were realistic that Malaika might not make it through those challenges, but nearly three years after her most recent rescue, she’s still here helping people fall in love with elephants.

It may sound morbid to some, but preparing for death is part of taking care of animals. It is part of what it means to be their forever caregivers. The team has been preparing for the inevitable death of an aging elephant since we built the facility in 2013 – and well before that, when the CMZoo Board decided to go down this road of caring for aging elephants.

For now, Malaika’s future is uncertain, but her team is prepared to make the most compassionate decisions for her, empowered with the training and equipment we need to face whatever comes our way. We meet at 4:30 p.m. each afternoon to discuss what happens if there is a situation during the evening and who can get back and how fast. We consistently practice our emergency response protocols to lift an elephant that falls and can’t get up, or for a humane euthanasia decision.

While planning the design of the Wilgruen Elephant Center, the Zoo made a conscious decision to meet the demand for specialized staff and equipment to care for aging elephants, including a crane system in the barn. More than 20 cross-discipline Zoo staff members, including animal keepers, veterinary staff, and operations, maintenance and grounds personnel, team up for rescue lift efforts. Some specialize in rope work, others focus on operating the hoist, and others document the entire process so we can learn from it later. The Zoo also depends on Colorado Springs Fire Department’s Heavy Rescue Team for supplemental support. The Heavy Rescue Team receives on-site elephant rescue training in advance of an emergency, and they’re always on stand-by.

Our veterinary and animal care teams are working to keep Malaika as comfortable as possible. She is taking oral medications and receiving other treatments for discomfort. We also work closely with Colorado State University’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital to consider all treatment options for Malaika.

There are countless other Zoo professionals vital to an event like this. For example, we recently hired a career and life coach at the Zoo who provides on-site coaching support as our teams move through grief. When you care for as many animals as we do, loss is part of life.

We’re holding onto hope that Malaika will get through this, but we just don’t know what the next few days or weeks hold for her. If she does recover, it wouldn’t be the first time an aging animal has given us a scare and then lived happily for many more years. Still, we know it’s possible that it may soon be time to say goodbye to Malaika, if she takes another turn for the worse.

When the time comes, we have a beautiful final resting place in the mountains for her, thanks to a donor who has been planning with us for many years. For every foreseeable turn, there’s a plan in place for Malaika.

We’ll continue monitoring Malaika closely, during the day and overnight, and will keep you posted as we have any updates to share. Please join us in rooting for Malaika, and in celebrating the special ways this beautiful animal has touched your life and so many others.

Join Bhutan, our 13-year-old snow leopard, and his keepers for snow day enrichment and training! Learn about Bhutan’s personality, his favorite scent-masking seasoning, which husbandry behaviors he’s working on, and how Bhutan is contributing to the future of his species. Make sure your volume is up to hear Bhutan’s impressive growls during his training session.

Snow leopards’ wild populations are listed as ‘vulnerable,’ according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List. Bhutan’s genetics are extremely valuable to the Snow Leopard Species Survival Plan, but he prefers a life with plenty of his own space, so traditional breeding isn’t in his future. Bhutan’s sperm is valuable because he doesn’t have offspring and has an extremely high sperm count. His sperm has been collected and is kept in a ‘frozen zoo.’ If the need arises, conservationists can pair Bhutan with a genetically valuable female snow leopard without having to involve Bhutan.

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It’s officially winter, when many people wonder if Emmett and Digger, CMZoo’s grizzly bears, go into hibernation. The short answer is no, but it’s a more complicated topic than some might expect. Scientists continue to study seasonal animal dormancy and are finding that animals experience a wide spectrum of behavioral and physiological changes in the winter months.

Various states of dormancy, including torpor or hibernation, are caused by seasonal changes including less sunlight, lower ambient temperatures and reduced food availability in the wild. But, animals in human care can also experience seasonal changes, even though they have plenty of food and shelter available. When animals go into these dormant states, their body temperatures, heart rates, metabolisms and respiratory rates are reduced. Generally, they slow down.

“Although bears have become the poster children of hibernation in popular culture, bear experts maintain that not all bears hibernate,” said Kelsey Walker, Rocky Mountain Wild keeper. “Wild bears naturally slow down to conserve energy, since they don’t have regular access to food. Even with consistent access to food, our boys experience changes each winter, so dormancy could be an adaptation developed over generations of bears surviving in the wild, and it has to do with more than food availability. Like I said, it’s complicated.”

Emmett and Digger sleep more and eat less during the winter months, even though they have access to warm dens and plentiful food year-round. Still, they stay pretty active during the winter, and continue training with their keepers and exploring their multi-yard exhibit and pond.

“In the winter, they will still interact with us, but they expect higher rewards for participation,” said Courtney Rogers, lead keeper in Rocky Mountain Wild. “What seems like a tasty snack during the summer isn’t worth the effort in the winter. I’ve seen Emmett and Digger square up over a single blueberry in the summer. In the winter, we can toss them a whole fresh trout and if it doesn’t land in their mouths, they don’t want it right away.”

Keepers say Emmett and Digger still play-wrestle, splash in their pond, and train in the winter months, but in a less energetic way. To maintain a good relationship while their normal food rewards aren’t as interesting to the grizzles, the keepers give them extra-rewarding items, like salmon.

“We want to make sure they’re still mentally stimulated while their bodies are in a more restful state, so we give the bears opportunities for mental stimulation, through training and enrichment options, while their bodies rest,” said Walker. “If you’ve seen them in the summer, you’ve got to come out and watch them in the winter. Although they slow down a bit, they’re as captivating as ever and guests can see them snuggling together, training with us or investigating enrichment items all winter long.”

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Keepers recently noticed Anja, a 5-month-old ring-tailed lemur pup, appeared to be consistently clenching her hands. The extremely energetic little lemur didn’t appear to be having any mobility issues as a result, but because lemurs use their hands to grip trees and move around, keepers wanted to keep a close eye on her. She was keeping up with her twin brother, Elo, and older half-brother, Maky, just fine.

“Once Anja gained independence and wasn’t spending most of her time clinging to her mom, we noticed she wasn’t opening her hands all the way,” said Grace Sullivan, Water’s Edge: Africa keeper. “She’s constantly leaping around with her brothers, so we’re not concerned about her well-being, but if there’s something we can do now to help her avoid any potential future limitations, of course we want to do that.”

Water’s Edge: Africa keepers and CMZoo’s veterinary staff teamed up to check on little Anja, and didn’t see any injuries or unusual bone structure. There’s no formal diagnosis at this point, but it appears she has tight ligaments.

After consulting with a veterinary sports medicine and rehabilitation specialist, her team built a physical therapy routine for Anja. The routine has similar goals as the exercises prescribed by physical therapists at Children’s Hospital Colorado’s Sports Medicine Center, partners of CMZoo.

“During her therapy, we ask Anja to hold onto a wooden pole and then we turn the pole slightly so her fingers open up,” said Sullivan. “She’s really smart, and she loves the training rewards she receives during the sessions, so she’s usually eager to participate.”

Anja doesn’t appear to experience discomfort during these training sessions and keepers have seen some improvement in her range of motion since starting the therapy in mid-November. Keepers do this behavior with Anja three times a week.

In addition to training, the team added some obstacles to Lemur Island that encourage her to stretch those tight ligaments as she moves around throughout the day. There’s a series of bamboo poles attached perpendicularly to another pole, which the lemurs have all enjoyed exploring. The poles are a wider circumference than other climbing opportunities on Lemur Island, so Anja’s fingers get a good stretch while she navigates, as has fun at the same time.

“The lemurs also share a new rope hammock made of thick ropes set far apart,” said Sullivan. “It’s enriching for all of the lemurs to explore these new items, but we’re especially happy to see Anja using them successfully.”

The team will continue working with Anja to gain flexibility in her fingers.

“We talk about how there’s always a balance when you’re addressing any potential struggles an animal might face,” said Sullivan. “We want to make sure Anja is okay, but we don’t want to go too far with treatments or diagnostics if she can clearly do all of the lemur things she needs to do with her hands as they are. Her hands might just be another thing that make this little one so special, in the long run. For now, we’re seeing the exercises help, so we’ll keep doing them.”

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