Art Colors Life.
CMZoo keepers work with our animals that enjoy painting as a form of enrichment. Our flock of penguins enjoy walking through paint and onto paper to show off their unique footprints – and their sense of style! Because our penguins choose to paint only when presented with black watercolor paper, every masterpiece is made on black watercolor paper.
Unique Benefits of Special Edition Art:
– Painting enriches our animals’ lives and stimulates their minds!
– We know every time someone looks at their Penguin animal art on display, they’ll be reminded how special and intelligent penguins are.
– With every piece of art purchased, the proceeds support the care of all CMZoo animals!
– Each piece of penguin art is one-of-a-kind, so if you see something you like, get it before it’s gone! There won’t be another piece like it!
Celebrate our seventeen ‘flockstars’ on International African Penguin Awareness Day (IAPAD), on Sat., Oct. 11 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Zoo! You won’t want to miss six-month-old Sparrow’s very first IAPAD!
Penguin enthusiasts can join us in Water’s Edge: Africa for crafts, games, and other activities available throughout the day. Don’t miss the keeper demonstrations during penguin feeding times at 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., as well as a walkabout with a penguin named Napoleon at 11 a.m. There’s no cost to attend IAPAD events, but advance daytime admission tickets are required and can be purchased at cmzoo.org.
In 2024, African penguins were officially uplisted to ‘critically endangered’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, with the number of wild breeding pairs falling below 10,000.
If current trends continue, these charismatic birds could be extinct in the wild by 2035. The wild African penguin population is dropping at a rate of nearly 8 percent per year, but thanks to support from CMZoo members and guests, these charismatic birds have a better chance of survival in the wild. Conservationists, with support from CMZoo members and guests, provide hope.
Since 2010, CMZoo members and guests have contributed more than $$200,000 to Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB saves seabirds) in support of African penguin conservation.
In 2020, the Zoo deepened its commitment by joining AZA African Penguin SAFE (Saving Animals From Extinction), a collaborative program supported by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
Every visit to CMZoo is conservation in action, because every visit and every membership contributes around one million dollars every 20 months to the Zoo’s Quarters for Conservation program, supporting efforts to save wildlife around the world.
Our not-so-tiny penguin chick has a name! Meet Sparrow. Keepers chose the name to go along with Captain and Pearl’s names. Captain, Pearl and Sparrow are all names related to the Pirates of the Caribbean films, where the swashbuckling Captain Jack Sparrow commands the pirate ship, the Black Pearl. Since hatching on April 8, 2025, Sparrow has been growing fast — exploring the surroundings, developing juvenile plumage and learning to preen feathers.
Sparrow recently hit a big milestone: swimming! The chick is quickly growing in juvenile plumage, which is the first set of waterproof feathers that replaces the soft down chicks have before they fledge.
From belly-flop dives into the water and carrying items to the nest, to eating regurgitated fish from Captain and Pearl and napping on a tiny rock nearby the nest, Sparrow is stealing hearts in Water’s Edge: Africa.
Our penguin chick isn’t so tiny anymore! Hatched on April 8, this little one is already nearing the two-month mark, and growing fast! It still lives in the nest box with Captain and Pearl, and it already weighs about 5 pounds, nearly the size of an adult African penguin. Keepers check on the chick daily and do regular weigh-ins to track its progress. The chick is very alert and loves to chirp loudly to make sure Captain, Pearl and everyone else in the penguin building knows when it’s time for a snack. Stay tuned for more penguin chick updates on social media!
Last month, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo members cast their votes to help the Zoo decide how to spend $75,000 of member conservation funds among staff-championed conservation projects vying for members’ support. The three projects with the most votes received the full funding they requested.
Every membership and every visit to the Zoo is conservation in action. From 2015 to 2025, the program has provided $825,000 of membership revenue to support field conservation worldwide.
“Our members make a big impact for wildlife and wild places,” 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 projects that support their conservation passions. Thank you, members!”
Each year, CMZoo membership revenue contributes a total of $100,000 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 Members-Only Conservation Vote top-ranked projects to fully fund are:
1) FOSTER, RAISE, AND RELEASE AFRICAN PENGUINS – $38,271
Member funding will provide an incubator, veterinary care and rehabilitation support for wild African penguin chicks and adults. African penguins, found mainly in South Africa and Namibia, face significant threats from overfishing, oil spills and disease outbreaks. As a result, penguin parents are abandoning their chicks due to lack of food and other weather-related factors. The Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB )will use these funds to rescue abandoned penguin eggs, chicks and adults needing intervention and rehabilitation at their South Africa facility. The goal is to release as many rescued penguins as possible back into the wild to bolster the rapidly declining African penguin population.
2) SUPPORT LEADERSHIP TRAINING FOR KENYAN WOMEN CONSERVATIONISTS AND RESTORE HABITAT FOR AFRICAN LIONS – $17,000
Support will empower Samburu (a region in Northern Kenya) women to improve their community’s livelihoods and help protect lions. Ewaso Lions implements several programs to help protect lions. One of these programs is The Mama Simbas (which means “Mothers of Lions”). The group consists of Samburu women trained to help alleviate human- wildlife conflicts, which typically occur between farmers and predators that may threaten local livestock. Ewaso Lions will use these funds to provide leadership training to the women of The Mama Simbas program. This training will give the women new tools to help shift attitudes towards predators, allowing Kenyan communities to coexist more easily and efficiently with wild carnivores. Funds will also support the restoration of grassland habitat.
3) PROTECT EGYPTIAN TORTOISES THROUGH COMMUNITY CONSERVATION IN EGYPT- $19,729
Member support will fund local community guards and provide tracking tags to protect Egyptian tortoises. Wild turtles and tortoises are facing a worldwide extinction crisis. The Egyptian tortoise faces severe threats from habitat destruction due to farming and poaching for the pet trade. The Turtle Survival Alliance will use funds to deploy tracking tags to gather data and gain an understanding of how tortoises interact with each other and their environment, as well as population dynamics. Community guards will help address immediate threats to the species by physically protecting the most vital tortoise populations and their habitat.
Waddle we do with all this cuteness? A tiny, fluffy African penguin chick made its grand debut at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in early April! This little one is growing up big and strong. At just 22 days old, the chick weighs 983 grams!
Its care team monitors and weighs it every few days. This little one is an important ambassador for African penguins.
In 2024, African penguins were officially uplisted to ‘critically endangered’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, with the number of wild breeding pairs falling below 10,000. If current trends continue, these charismatic birds could be extinct in the wild by 2035.
Since 2010, CMZoo guests and members have contributed more than $159,675 to Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) in support of African penguin conservation. In 2020, the Zoo deepened its commitment by joining AZA SAFE (Saving Animals From Extinction) African Penguin, a collaborative program supported by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
Every visit to CMZoo is conservation in action. Guests visiting CMZoo can see African penguins up close, including this new chick, knowing their visit helps support a future for this species in the wild.
Keep an eye (and ear) out for the chick in the penguin building in Water’s Edge Africa. While it’s usually snuggled in the nest, you might see it wriggle out, or hear it peeping.
Stay tuned for updates!
Thanks to the support of Zoo guests and members, wild critically endangered African penguins have ongoing support. One of the key people leading this charge in the field is the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds’ (SANCCOB) Penguin and Seabird Ranger, Yandisa Cwecwe.
Working side-by-side with African penguins on South Africa’s historic Robben Island, Yandisa plays a vital role in protecting one of the world’s most threatened seabirds. With a Master of Science in Zoology and Marine Biology, and early research experience at Stellenbosch University’s Marine Conservation Genomics laboratory, Yandisa’s passion for marine life led her to SANCCOB in 2021. There, she found her calling conserving African penguins.
“The wild African penguin population is dropping at a rate of nearly 8 percent per year, but thanks to support from our members and guests, we can help these charismatic birds have a better chance of survival in the wild,” Nicole Chaney, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo conservation manager, says. “It’s inspiring for our members and guests to learn about the people dedicating their lives to saving wildlife and wild places, like Yandisa and the team at SANCCOB.”
As a SANCCOB Ranger, she rescues injured, ill or oiled penguins and transports them by boat to SANCCOB’s Rehabilitation Centre in Table View, South Africa, for specialized care and rehabilitation before they are released back into the wild.
Yandisa also collaborates closely with varying organizations on the island, including Earthwatch, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, the University of Cape Town, and the Robben Island Environmental Unit. Her daily routine includes early morning field patrols, seabird and penguin population monitoring, penguin nest checks, and the use of Passive Integrated Transponders (PIT tags) to help track individual penguins throughout their lives.
In 2024, African penguins were officially uplisted to ‘Critically Endangered’ on the IUCN Red List, with the number of wild breeding pairs falling below 10,000. If current trends continue, these charismatic birds could be extinct in the wild by 2035. Yandisa works to prevent that outcome every day. The threats they face, from commercial overfishing and extreme weather events to pollution and disease are formidable. Conservationists, like Yandisa, with support from CMZoo members and guests, provide hope.
CMZoo contributes annually to SANCCOB’s Robben Island Ranger project, directly funding field efforts like Yandisa’s work. Since 2010, CMZoo guests and members have contributed more than $159,675 to SANCCOB in support of African penguin conservation. In 2020, the Zoo deepened its commitment by joining AZA SAFE (Saving Animals From Extinction) African Penguin, a collaborative program supported by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
Every visit to CMZoo is conservation in action. African penguins are one of the species up for support in this year’s Members-Only Conservation Vote. Until Sun., March 30, CMZoo members can check their email for a private link to cast their vote for the CMZoo staff-championed conservation project that inspires them most. Guests visiting CMZoo can see African penguins up close, knowing their visit helps support a future for this species in the wild.