News Archive

June is an exciting time in the Laramie Basin of Wyoming. Every year, our dedicated team of conservationists travels at the crack of dawn to this special place to release toads they’ve been raising for a year, and tadpoles recently hatched at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Earlier this month, they released 220 ‘headstart’ toads and this . . .

Wolf Woods is arguably the wildest place at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. Seven Mexican wolves, led by 13-year-old matriarch, Luna, roam the expansive yard which was designed to preserve our wolves’ wild instincts as much as possible. As part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Mexican Wolf Species Survival Plan (SSP), they or their . . .

Last month, members cast their votes to help the Zoo decide how to spend $75,000 of member conservation funds among five conservation projects vying for support. The three projects with the most votes will receive the full funding they requested. The number of votes received for the remaining two projects will help CMZoo decide how . . .

Every membership and every visit to the Zoo is conservation in action. Since 2015, including this year’s contributions, the Member Conservation Vote has provided $525,000 of membership revenue to support field conservation worldwide. Each year, a total of $100,000 of membership revenue is contributed to conservation in two ways: “Our members are passionate about conservation . . .

Cofan, our 17-year-old male mountain tapir, is recovering from having a kidney removed in mid-February. In December 2020, his keepers noticed he was starting to act unusually and that his symptoms were progressing quickly. He was uncoordinated, was not shifting to his outdoor yard, and was eating less and losing weight. “Cofan is normally eager . . .

Found in the heart of one of the most biologically diverse areas in all of Africa, okapi have only been widely documented in science since 1901. Threatened by habitat destruction, mining, poaching and civil unrest, there may be as few as 10,000 left in the wild. Okapi are only found in the rainforests of the . . .

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’ . . .

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 . . .

An important conservation effort to save crowned cranes in East Africa is making progress, thanks to the support of Cheyenne Mountain Zoo members. The East African crowned crane has seen a dramatic decrease in population, losing 4,500 individuals over the last four years. If the decline continues at this pace, East African crowned cranes could . . .

Winter is a season of opportunity for Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s Pallas’ cats, 3-year-old female, Nancy, and 3-year-old male, Bo. The two Asian Highlands residents are often referred to as the original grumpy cats because of their intense stares, furrowed brows and downturned mouths. Their unique ears sit on the sides of their fluffy round faces, . . .