March 18, 2008 – Once your children have found all of their hidden Easter eggs, they can once again bring them to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo on Easter Sunday, March 23. Keepers will be collecting old fashioned hard-boiled and dyed Easter eggs at a variety of locations and times around the Zoo and feeding them out to animals, weather permitting. Keepers stress that only dyed hard-boiled eggs are eligible for this event; no paint or markers, stickers, glitter or other alterations on eggs will be accepted. Keepers will be accepting one egg per child per area for feeding out. Kids will be able to watch as keepers feed out the eggs to the individual animals.

Easter egg collection and feeding times will be posted at the Zoo’s admission gate on Easter Sunday. Visitors are encouraged to check with the admission gate for schedules for their favorite animals Easter egg feed out time.

Commenting on the Easter egg distribution to animals, General Curator Tracy Leeds explains, “We give our animals treats from time to time, not only to supplement their diets, but to give them some enrichment and mental and physical exercise. This kind of activity stimulates the natural behaviors of foraging for their food. This form of enrichment is an important element in the care and feeding of our animals.”

Founded in 1926, the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is one of a small handful accredited zoos in the nation that operate without local tax support. As a self-supporting facility, it depends on admissions, membership dues, donations, and grants for funding.

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