The Waterhole Archives - Page 2 of 36

The Zoo profession is a quickly evolving blend of science, veterinary medicine, compassion, relationships, intuition and innovation. With the well-being of its animals at the forefront, CMZoo is investing in another full-time dedicated position to increase enrichment opportunities for its scaly, furry, giant and tiny animal colleagues. As CMZoo’s Curator of Environmental Enhancements, Jason Bredahl incorporates an environments-first approach to enrich animals’ lives. Jason’s new position works in collaboration with Rick Hester, another full-time CMZoo staff member dedicated to animal well-being as the Curator of Behavioral Husbandry.

“We know that positive reinforcement training with keepers, novel enrichment activities and interactions with guests are engaging for our animals,” Jason says. “We want to fill the rest of their days with enrichment that doesn’t depend on people providing it. We want their environments to support them with opportunities that they find positively reinforcing for as long as possible.”

Before accepting this position, Jason worked as an animal keeper and animal care manager of giraffe, African lions, elephants, rhino, okapi and more at CMZoo for 24 years. Stepping into this dedicated role, he can share his vast behavioral knowledge and experience with all of the Zoo’s animal care teams. Plus, he’ll have the time, equipment and resources to lead enrichment programs for animals all over the Zoo. The goal is to provide activities the animals find reinforcing – meaning they achieve mental and physical stimulation, satisfaction and comfort – through their own innate natural behaviors.

For a grizzly bear, digging is tops. The grizzlies’ new habitat (currently under construction) will have a variety of digging locations and varied substrates where the bears can get dirty, take a comfy nap or uncover treats to their hearts’ delights. Rocky Mountain goats want to climb and survey from on high. CMZoo recently added 30 boulders to the top of their rocky cliffs, which already towered over the Zoo. Penguins want to hunt. A new trout enrichment program allows them to zoom underwater and get the behavioral and nutritional satisfaction of snagging the catch of the day. Beavers want to build dams, but their care team discovered that providing branches wasn’t inspiring them. So, now the team provides specific branches that are good for building and installed a speaker system that plays running water on a loop in the beavers’ habitat. Dams now abound in the CMZoo beaver pond.

“Herbivores’ favorite job is eating,” Jason says. “We see them seeking food over almost anything else, regardless of how much we provide. It’s a challenge to provide the quantities and right kinds of food so they can eat for the majority of the day without gaining an unhealthy amount of weight. That means we need more tree branches, just like they would eat in the wild. That’s where our browse program is really stepping up and where our community can make an impact.”

CMZoo’s browse program isn’t new, but it’s evolving. ‘Browse’ is another word for tree branches, leaves, twigs and trunks. With Jason overseeing the program, Sarah Touchton, browse coordinator, is filling her days by filling the Zoo’s pick-up truck with tree branches and solidifying relationships with local landscaping companies.

“I want to encourage our community members to ask their tree trimmers where they’re going to recycle branches, and to suggest they reach out to us,” Sarah says. “We’re trying to add a step to the tree recycling process. It will still become mulch eventually at a local tree recycling organization, but before it goes there, it could come here first and our animals could really benefit from the bark and leaves.”

The Zoo can’t accept branches that have been sprayed with pesticides or herbicides or are diseased or dead. The branches must have been cut within a day or two of the donation. Zoo animals can have elm, willow, ash and cottonwood branches and trunks. Maple and pine species are toxic to ruminants – herbivorous animals with multi-chambered stomachs.

“Donations should be at least a truckload of tree branches and trunks to make the most of our pick-ups,” Sarah says. “Once it gets to the Zoo, we distribute branches to giraffe, elephants, wallabies, our rhino, moose, and more, and they gobble it up. Other animals that don’t eat the branches might like to play with them. It’s really fun to be able to show our browse donors where their branches ended up, especially when it’s something as cute as a video of Emmett, our grizzly bear, swimming and swinging branches over his head.”

The next time a tree needs a trim, the property owner can encourage their tree trimming service provider to see if the Zoo can use the browse. Landscaping companies can also reach out to the team to set up regular drop-offs at [email protected]. Drop-off and pick-up opportunities may be limited and the team will prioritize large-volume donations.

Back to The Waterhole

Kids, kits, joeys and pups! This season, we’ve welcomed seven baby skunks, two Rocky Mountain goats, two wallaby joeys, and five meerkat pups. These adorable littles are already awesome ambassadors for their species and quickly becoming guest favorites, each bringing their own unique energy and playfulness to CMZoo.

The seven skunks will head to other AZA zoos when they’re mature and independent in the coming months. At their new homes, they’ll represent their wild counterparts and help even more people learn to love and appreciate skunks. There are no current plans for meerkats, joeys or Rocky Mountain goat kids to leave CMZoo.

Be sure to visit the cuteness overload firsthand during your next visit!

Back to The Waterhole

Adding animal demonstrations to your next Zoo day itinerary is one of the best ways to kick off the summer. Included with your regular daytime ticket, you’ll have access to multiple animal demonstrations throughout the day. From brachiating orangutans to a guinea pig parade, these demonstrations offer fun and educational experiences for our guests while also enriching and engaging our animals. Highlighting their natural behaviors and unique features, these demonstrations provide insight into some of the residents of CMZoo.
(Animal demonstrations are weather and animal permitting.)

Summer Schedule

9:30 a.m. — Penguin Keeper Talk in Water’s Edge: Africa
10 a.m. — Guinea Pig Parade in Water’s Edge: Africa (Tues., Wed., and Sun. only)
10 a.m. — Lion Enrichment in African Rift Valley (Tues. and Sat. only)
10 a.m. — Wolf Feeding in Rocky Mountain Wild (Thurs. and Sun. only)
10:45 a.m. — Caring for Elephants in Encounter Africa
11:15 a.m. — Orangutans are Awesome in Primate World
11:30 a.m. — Barn Owl Training in Scutes Family Gallery
11:30 a.m. — Alligator Feeding in Australia Walkabout (Mon. and Tues. only)
2:15 p.m. — Caring for Elephants in Encounter Africa
2:30 p.m. — Skunk Training in The Loft
3 p.m. — Treetop Acrobats in African Rift Valley at the colobus monkey exhibit (Fri., Sat., and Sun. only)
3:15 p.m. — Caring for Awesome Apes in Primate World
3:30 p.m. — Grizzly Demo in the temporary bear habitat above the tapir yard
4:15 p.m. — Meet the Hippos in Water’s Edge: Africa

Advance tickets are required and can be purchased at cmzoo.org.

Back to The Waterhole

The youngest ape in Primate World, 6-year-old Kera, puts the “I” in “independence,” according to Animal Keeper Izzy Dones, who works with Kera in Primate World. Kera is one of six orangutans in Primate World, and one of three Sumatran orangutans, along with her mom, Sumagu, and her dad, Baka-Keri.

“I think her independence comes from Sumagu,” Izzy says. “Sumagu really beats to the rhythm of her own drum. She will let you know if she wants to come over to train or if today is not the day. It’s like she has seen it all and knows exactly what she wants, and I love that.”

Orangutans learn through behavior modeling, and Kera is an astute observer.

“When Kera was really young, Sumagu participated in voluntary training with us and Kera watched closely and mirrored her mom’s behaviors,” Izzy says. “Kera learned a lot of her body presentations and stationing that way, which we teach so she can voluntarily participate in her own health care.”

Clever Kera is a whiz at husbandry training. She does an open-mouth presentation so keepers can brush her teeth. A recent dental check revealed another sign the baby orangutan is growing up. She lost her first baby teeth!

“If she’s near the window, guests can open their mouths and show her their teeth, and she’ll usually show them hers,” Izzy says. “She just lost her first two teeth in February, so you might be able to see where she has lost her two middle bottom teeth and her new ones are growing in.”

Kera is also smart enough to know that her behaviors are valuable to her keepers – valuable enough to earn her yummy treats. One behavior, called “trading,” allows keepers to ask the great apes to bring them something from their dens, like small reusable PVC tubes that keepers stash food in. When those tubes are empty, keepers ask for them back.

“Some mornings, I’ll come in and she’s waiting at the fence with a pile of theses tubes she has collected and she’s ready to trade,” Izzy says. “She’s like, ‘Okay you can have these, but only for the right treat and only one at a time.’ She’ll even tear items, like blankets, into smaller pieces so she has more pieces to trade. Her dad does that, too, so we think she learned that little hack from watching him. The more pieces you have to trade, the more treats you get. It makes sense.”

Playful and curious, young Kera loves interacting with guests and keepers. One of her favorite activities is to play tug-of-war. She picks up a blanket and brings a corner of it to the fence so a keeper can pull it through the mesh, and Kera pulls with all of her little orangutan might.

“Kera plays with guests, too,” Izzy says. “She loves to climb up on a rope and swing towards the glass where guests are watching her. She gets really excited when guests start interacting with her. She’s also curious to see what people have in their bags. She’ll get up high and try to look into people’s purses, which always makes me laugh.”

As an ambassador for her species, Kera is a pro. She naturally seeks opportunities to interact and make connections with guests, which inspire them to take action to protect her wild counterparts.

Orangutans are critically endangered, in part because of deforestation to build palm oil plantations in their native habitats. Palm oil is an edible oil found in about half of the products consumers purchase. It is used in candy, soaps, cosmetics, pet food and cleaning products. Because of high demand, unsustainable palm oil production has resulted in deforestation across Southeast Asia, and other tropical areas around the world, which means critically endangered species like orangutans, tigers and elephants are losing their homes.

However, when produced sustainably, palm oil is the most productive edible oil available. Oil palms – the trees that palm oil comes from – produce four to ten times more oil than alternatives like soy, olive, canola and coconut. Switching to these alternatives would cause even more deforestation in tropical areas, which is why consumers must demand sustainable palm oil.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, under the direction of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), helped launch a free global mobile app, called PalmOil Scan, that gives everyone the power to advocate for orangutans’ dwindling wild habitats with their shopping choices, and to make large companies listen to their demands for sustainably produced palm oil.

The free smartphone app empowers consumers to make informed, environmentally-friendly shopping decisions, just by scanning the barcode on a product to see if that company has committed to sourcing sustainable palm oil. PalmOil Scan is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., New Zealand and Australia, with plans to expand to more countries around the world. Learn more at cmzoo.org/palmoil.

Back to The Waterhole

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

Every membership and every visit to the Zoo is conservation in action. From 2015 to 2024, including this year’s contributions, the program has provided $750,000 of membership revenue to support field conservation worldwide.

“I hope our members recognize what an impact they make for wildlife and wild places through these staff-championed conservation efforts,” Ashley Cioppa, CMZoo membership manager, says. “Our members’ annual investment in their Zoo memberships directly supports animals here in Colorado and all around the world. Plus, they give our staff the opportunity to reach more niche organizations and efforts that support their personal passions. Thank you, members!”

Each year, a total of $100,000 of membership revenue is contributed to conservation in two ways:

$25,000 to the Quarters for Conservation program, which in total contributes a million dollars on average every 18 months to CMZoo’s legacy conservation partners.
$75,000 to projects voted for by CMZoo members through this annual vote.

This year’s Member Conservation Vote top-ranked projects to fully fund are:

1. Track and protect FLAMMULATED OWLS in Colorado – $4,150
Purchase ten tracking tags that provide researchers with crucial migration data for these tiny owls. Migratory birds are currently facing many threats such as pollution, pesticides, habitat loss and collisions with human-made structures. The installation of two Motus towers at CMZoo and Fountain Creek Nature Center last year allows researchers the ability to track hundreds of local bird species in efforts to protect them. As a continuation of this project, a local researcher will utilize these towers to track ten flammulated owls, a species that lives right here in Colorado Springs, to learn about their migration patterns and use that information to help protect the species.

2. Support agroforestry to protect OKAPI habitat – $24,600
Provide farmers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo with sustainable agricultural resources. Okapi populations are facing a major threat of habit loss due to slash-and-burn agriculture and human settlement. In a continued partnership, the Okapi Conservation Project (OCP) will use these funds to provide farmers with tools, seeds, land plots and the education necessary to build and maintain sustainable agriculture and reforestation practices. In doing so, the local communities are empowered to produce their food sustainably and reduce their dependence on mining and poaching – leading to the long-term protection of okapi.

3. Help build a new island home for ORANGUTANS in Borneo – $17,642
Help provide the materials to construct a new, forested island home for non-releasable orangutans in Southeast Asia. Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation is an established organization that rescues, rehabilitates and releases orangutans back into their natural habitat. Unfortunately, a small percent of orangutans come to BOS with injuries, illnesses or other conditions that prevent them from being released into the wild safely. BOS houses and cares for them for the rest of their lives. Member funds will help provide the construction materials for a new orangutan island that will create a spacious and enriching forever home for three non-releasable orangutans currently residing with BOS.

With the remaining funds, CMZoo has decided to partially fund:

Protect PANCAKE TORTOISES through community conservation in Kenya
Conduct community awareness training and research to protect critically endangered tortoises and their habitat. Wild turtle and tortoise species are in the midst of a worldwide extinction crisis. The African pancake tortoise faces severe threats, not only from grassland habitat destruction used for farming, but also an additional threat of poaching for the pet trade. In a continued partnership, the Turtle Survival Alliance will protect and develop research strategies for a newly found pancake tortoise population, as well as establish additional awareness for the local communities surrounding this tortoise population.

Expand AFRICAN PENGUIN chick rearing capacity
Provide construction materials and equipment to rear penguin chicks. African penguins, found mainly in South Africa and Namibia, are facing threats from overfishing and climate change, which often results in penguin parents abandoning their chicks. Due to an exponential increase in egg and chick abandonment, the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) is looking to expand their chick-rearing facility through our ongoing partnership. This expansion will double their capacity of penguin chicks and eggs that they can rescue, rehabilitate, and release each year.

Support kids’ education camps to help protect AFRICAN LIONS
Help protect large carnivores by empowering a new generation in Kenya. Human-wildlife conflicts can occur between farmers and predators, such as lions, that may threaten local livestock. The education programs that Ewaso Lions will implement through this ongoing partnership will help to shift the attitude towards predators and allow Kenyan communities to more easily and efficiently coexist with wild carnivores by reducing the frequency of potential human-wildlife conflicts.

For more information about how to become a CMZoo member, and the many benefits that memberships provide, visit cmzoo.org/membership.

Back to The Waterhole

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL COLORADO –Summer is around the corner, and many parents are planning activities to keep the kids active, healthy and inspired. Our partners at Children’s Hospital Colorado offer expert tips for making outdoor activity and exercise fun for the whole family.

How about a summer project that doesn’t require a road trip, but does provide endless memories, education, and screen-free time in the calming presence of nature? A backyard pollinator garden checks all the boxes, and the size of space available doesn’t matter. Plus, it feeds butterflies, hummingbirds, bees and other pollinators that are so vital to our ecosystems.

If establishing a garden sounds overwhelming, keep reading. The annual Plant Sale at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo can be your guide! This year’s sale is 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thurs., May 16 and Fri., May 17, plus 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sat., May 18 at the Zoo. With a selection of drought-resistant, native, pollinator-friendly and deer-resistant plants, gardeners can feel confident they’re choosing items that can do well in Colorado’s sometimes-tricky gardening zone.

“I can say from experience that gardening together builds some great core memories,” Zach Groskopf, horticulture technician at CMZoo, says. “I got into horticulture because I used to garden with my grandmother a lot. Now, I actually work the same garden that we planted together years ago. It’s nice; it brings back memories every time I’m in there.”

Zach and the rest of the horticulture team at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo will be available at the Plant Sale to help shoppers pick the best plants for their gardens, guiding folks through variations in sunlight, soil, water and attention needed for the plants to thrive. Here are three plants available at the 2024 Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Plant Sale that Zach recommends adding to any Colorado garden.

Tradescantia. This is a perennial flowering plant that produces pollinator-attracting flowers all season long, from spring to the first frost in fall. It grows wild in Colorado, so it should thrive in any backyard. There will be two color varieties at the Plant Sale: a lime-green foliage with a deeper purple flower and a slivery blue leaf with a lighter, more violet flower.

“I find tradescantia naturally all over my yard, and I love it,” says Zach. “The only downside is the deer love it, too. As long as you plant it near deer-repelling flowers, or you don’t get deer in your yard, it’ll be fine. Tradescantia is super resilient. It tolerates heat and cold and doesn’t need a ton of water once it’s established.”

Zach also recommends the silver butterfly bush, a type of buddleia making its first-ever appearance at the Plant Sale. This perennial grows drooping clusters of tiny pastel purple flowers, and this specific type of buddleia can grow up to four to six feet tall. It’s deer-resistant, drought-resistant, pollinator-friendly and can grow in full sun or partial shade.

No Colorado garden is complete without the Colorado State Flower – the Rocky Mountain Columbine. Three color varieties of columbine will be available at the Plant Sale: Denver Gold, with vibrant gold petals; an all-white variety; and the classic Rocky Mountain variety, featuring purple and white flowers.

“The columbine is my personal favorite flower because they’re beautiful and they’re resilient,” Zach says. “I keep bees and these flowers make the most delicious honey, too. The columbines at the Plant Sale are special because we grew all of them from columbine seeds collected from all around the Zoo.”

In addition to Zach’s top three plants, shoppers can pick up a unique variety of interesting pollinator-friendly plants, veggies, herbs and more. One special addition this year is a non-fruiting strawberry plant with interesting variegated leaves, known for its super-spreading ability to cover blank spots in the garden.

The Russian sage is another Colorado favorite, although it is not a native plant. The flowering shrubs grow up to five feet tall and five feet wide, and they need very little water or attention. They’re perennials, so each year they return stronger and taller, producing aromatic sage leaves and small purple flowers that bees and butterflies can’t get enough of.

Zach also recommends the moonshine yarrow as a more simple ‘first-timer’ plant. The leaves are incredibly soft, so it offers an additional tactile element for kids exploring in the garden.

Herbs, like basil, and a ton of tomato plants are available for purchase for those who would rather try a patio veggie garden or kitchen-window herb shelf.

There are no reservations or tickets required to attend the Plant Sale, which will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thurs., May 16 and Fri., May 17 and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sat., May 18 – when the Zoo closes early for Run to the Shrine. Plants will be available on a first-come first-served basis, so don’t be late!

This year, the Zoo’s fundraising Plant Sale will be near the front entry of the Zoo. Keep an eye out for signs directing you to the sale as you walk towards our admission windows. Zoo admission is not required to attend the Plant Sale, and Zoo guests can stop in to shop on their way out.

This year’s Plant Sale is in-person only. There will be no online shopping or shipping options available. Come out to the Zoo and chat with our expert horticulturists about which plants work best in your garden, and know you’re supporting the ongoing beautification of the Zoo with your purchases.

Back to The Waterhole

Are they rabbits? Deer? Jackalopes?

None of the above! Patagonian maras are rodents native to South America. They are part of the cavy family and are related to capybaras and guinea pigs. Four-month-old mara siblings, Poa (male) and Briza (female), recently moved into their new home in My Big Backyard. The friendly duo is quickly stealing hearts with their energetic leaps, adorable dirt baths and whiskered snoots. Visit Poa and Briza during your next visit to My Big Backyard!

Back to The Waterhole

World Tree Kangaroo Day is Tues., May 21, and we have an exciting day of activities planned in Australia Walkabout to help raise awareness for tree kangaroo conservation.

Only about 2,500 Matschie’s tree kangaroos remain in the wild in their only known habitat: The Huon Peninsula of northeastern Papua New Guinea. Threatened by logging and mining exploration, the marsupial arboreal species is considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

At CMZoo, we support the Matschie’s Tree Kangaroo Species Survival Plan (SSP) by providing a home and care for tree kangaroos that don’t have current breeding recommendations, like Som. While Som receives quality care, she’s also contributing to the conservation of her species by inspiring and educating guests.

Check out some of the fun activities we have planned for World Tree Kangaroo Day!

10 a.m. to 2 p.m. – join us for family activities in Scutes Family Gallery:
– Coloring pages
– Paper masks
– Button making
– Simulated pouch peek activity (find an imitation tree kangaroo joey in a pouch replica)
– “Walk like a tree kangaroo” activity
11 a.m. – keeper talk at the Matschie’s tree kangaroo exhibit in Australia Walkabout.
1 p.m. – puppet show in Safari Cabin (near the entrance to the Sky Ride).

This event and all activities are included in the price of your daytime admission to CMZoo.
Please note: advance tickets to the Zoo are required for members and the general public, and some days may sell out. Get tickets at cmzoo.org.

Back to The Waterhole

UPDATE APRIL 24, 2024: Guests Can See Grizzlies in Temporary Staycation Home at CMZoo
Our grizzly bears, Emmett and Digger, are getting updates to their habitat and viewing areas. Emmett and Digger wanted to skip the rest of construction near their habitat, so they have temporarily moved to the Asiatic bear area near the play hill, above the tapir yard. Guests can visit them right away.

How Do You Move Two Grizzly Bears?
With candy and a big crate.

Relying on trusting relationships with the grizzlies and the added appeal of candy, keepers asked the bears to walk into a big crate. After 4 days of training and lots of Kit Kats and Reese’s peanut butter cups as rewards, the bears were comfortable with their crates, and they were ready to move. Each bear loaded into a crate voluntarily, separately and one at a time. Then, we carried one 700-pound boy at a time on a forklift, wide awake! Emmett moved first, then Digger arrived.

Their temporary home, next door to beloved aging Asiatic black bear, Beezler, is a good short-term location on one condition: ‘Golden Girl’ Beezler still gets her favorite sunny nap spot.

We look forward to welcoming guests and bears back to the grizzly exhibit when it reopens soon. In the meantime, stop by to see Emmett and Digger on the left side of the Asiatic bear habitat, and Beezler on the right.

Why Did They Need to Move?
CMZoo improvements continue with grizzly bear habitat updates

The former grizzly bear boardwalk is being replaced with pathways that provide additional grizzly viewing experiences for guests in Rocky Mountain Wild. The elevator tower is being repurposed as a future play feature, with giant tube slides attached to its sides. Guests will still be able to take the stairs up and can either slide back down or enjoy the view and walk down the stairs.

Ongoing improvements to the bears’ habitat – including the recently completed waterfall in their north yard – will make it better suited to provide homes for potential orphaned cubs in need of human care.

After a couple of months of construction in Rocky Mountain Wild, construction got louder and closer to the bears. Emmett and Digger showed signs they’d rather skip the final phases of that work. So, their teams trained them to voluntarily enter and crate, and moved them to a more suitable location for the rest of the grizzly bear construction project. Emmett and Digger continue to receive daily care, enrichment, training and interactions with keepers and staff in their temporary home, and they appear to be enjoying the change of scenery and quiet, away from construction.

Watch for updates here and on our social media channels

DECEMBER 2023: Guests and members will soon get new views of Emmett and Digger, CMZoo’s nearly 19-year-old grizzly bears. When the project is complete, visitors will get different perspectives of the bears from ground level and from an additional guest viewing area. Ongoing improvements to the bears’ habitat – including the recently completed waterfall in their north yard – will also make it better suited to provide homes for potential orphaned cubs in need of human care.

Starting in January, the grizzly bear area in Rocky Mountain Wild will be closed while the Zoo manages these projects. The estimated reopening date is early summer 2024, and teams will be pushing themselves to meet (or beat!) that deadline. Because the vast majority of the work will occur outside of the grizzlies’ habitat, Emmett and Digger will have access to their indoor and outdoor spaces as usual. They will, of course, continue to receive daily care, enrichment, training and interactions with keepers and staff.

“One of the most noticeable changes for our guests will be the removal of the grizzly bear boardwalk,” said Dave Ruhl, CMZoo executive vice president. “We’re decommissioning the elevator and building new pathways that we believe will provide better access for our guests visiting the grizzlies. We have something really fun in mind for the future of the elevator tower.”

The elevator tower will stay in place as a future play feature, with giant tube slides attached to its sides. Guests will be able to take the stairs up, as they can now, but instead of walking to the boardwalk, they can either slide back down or enjoy the view and walk down the stairs.

The current grizzly viewing area, by the grizzlies’ pool, will stay in place. Guests will access it via a paved sidewalk and ramp similar to the sloped sidewalk from African Rift Valley to the main road. A second guest viewing area will be built at the base of the grizzlies’ north yard. The future path to grizzly viewing will start near the end of the Asian Highlands tiger bridge.

Additionally, the grizzlies will get new outdoor overnight spaces, so they can choose to sleep inside or outside. New gates and spaces in separate yards also give the Zoo the opportunity to provide homes for wild orphaned bear cubs in the future. With new access points, keepers could care for Emmett and Digger in one set of spaces and cubs in another.

“We believe these changes are going to improve both guest experiences and animal experiences,” said Ruhl. “There are no current plans to welcome cubs to the Zoo, but unfortunately, wildlife officials need to find homes for orphaned cubs nearly every year. If we can give them a second chance at life by providing a safe home for them, we will.”

CMZoo will provide updates on the grizzlies and the new-and-improved guest areas as progress continues.

Back to The Waterhole

Amur leopard brothers, Basha and Mango, are quickly growing in size and skill. The 9-month-old brothers are about the same size as their parents, Anya and Anadyr, and eagerly participate in fun enrichment and important training sessions.

While there aren’t any current plans for Basha and Mango to leave CMZoo, their care team is working alongside other zoos and partners to develop a program designed to successfully prepare big cats for transportation to a new accredited facility, if and when the need arises. Basha and Mango are helping spearhead that program, which Asian Highlands keepers will share with other zoos for the welfare of all big cats on the move. Basha and Mango currently still spend most of their time with their mother, Anya. As part of this program, they are also starting to explore spaces without her and participating in voluntarily crate training.

Amur leopards are widely known as the rarest big cats on the planet. Only around 100 individuals remain in the wilds of Eastern Russia and China. CMZoo’s four Amur leopards represent four percent of the wild population. Helping Basha and Mango master the skills needed to successfully adapt to a new home in the future will hopefully give them the opportunity to breed and have families of their own, increasing the number of Amur leopards in the world.

Back to The Waterhole