Animal Health Archives - Page 9 of 10

CMZoo year-round sponsor, Children’s Hospital Colorado, has created a guide to first-year doctor visits for human babies. Similarly, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s experience with our prolific giraffe breeding program, founded in 1954, gives us some great milestones for the first year of life for a giraffe calf. Let’s see how Viv, CMZoo’s giraffe calf born to Msitu in July 2019, compares to the average timelines.

The first day of a giraffe calf’s birth is full of important milestones. Within the first couple of hours after birth, the calf is expected to stand. It usually takes several very wobbly attempts before the calf is stable on those long legs. When calves are born, they drop about five feet from the birth canal to the floor. In human care, a birth stall usually has several inches of sand, hay or shavings on the ground to help cushion that fall. Once the calf has landed, it usually needs to ‘untangle’ its long legs and neck, and then can attempt to stand.

“Viv’s legs were wrapped up sort of like a pretzel when she landed, so it took her a few minutes to get them where they needed to be,” said Jason Bredahl, giraffe animal care manager. “Once she got those straightened out, she was the fastest calf we’ve ever seen take its first steps. She was up and walking within about 35 minutes of being born, and she really hasn’t slowed down since.”

Within the first three hours after birth, the calf is expected to nurse from its mother. It’s important for the calf to nurse within this window, because it ensures the newborn calf consumes the colostrum that contains important antibodies from its mother.

“Viv was on the slower side when it came to getting her first milk,” said Bredahl. “But, Msitu is a great mom, and she and Viv quickly bonded. Once they did, we saw her nursing a lot that first night and throughout the next few months.”

Normally, giraffe calves nurse for about four months without eating any solid foods, like leaves or grain. The average weaning period is anywhere from six months to a year. The baby usually starts investigating solid foods between two and three months of age.

Viv had other plans.

“We started noticing Viv nibbling on browse and being curious about crackers at about a month old,” said Bredahl. “She is still nursing, so she’s getting the nutrients she needs from mom, but at this point, her diet contains a lot of browse, alfalfa, grain and romaine lettuce from our guest feeding opportunities.”

Unless it’s medically necessary, CMZoo staff doesn’t intervene with animals’ births, and has found it’s beneficial to the mother/baby relationship to allow them uninterrupted time together to bond. Since Viv showed all the signs of being a strong calf, staff never took exact height or weight measurements.

On average, giraffe calves weigh between 100 and 200 pounds at birth, and measure about six feet tall.

“We guessed that she was about 200 pounds at birth and stood about six feet tall,” said Bredahl. “Since then, she’s growing and growing. As of the end of October, we estimate she’s about seven feet tall and over 300 pounds.”

The next big milestone for giraffe in care at CMZoo is to start training. Most giraffe calves born at CMZoo participate in behaviors, like shifting from one area to another, by following their mothers. This allows keepers to care for them by relying on training their mothers have received.

Not Viv.

“Viv has been a total firecracker from the very beginning, when she leap-frogged over her mom’s back as her mom was lying down only six hours after she was born,” said Bredahl. “She’s one of the most independent giraffe calves we’ve ever experienced, which is fantastic because she’s such a great ambassador for her species. She’s interested in guests, keepers and the rest of the herd. It also means she’s not necessarily interested in doing what her mom is doing. That makes shifting into the barn from the yard, or vice versa, or moving from one part of the barn to another an ‘adventure’ each day.”

Keepers rely on a calf’s interest in solid foods to train. The food is the positive reinforcement keepers need to encourage positive behaviors from an animal.

“In our experience, we usually start working with calves on trained behaviors at about four months,” said Bredahl. “Viv was a lot younger than that.”

Because Viv took interest in browse, alfalfa and other solid foods at such an early age, keepers started training with her at just a month old.

Keepers will continue working with Viv on her training, which is still largely focused on asking her to move from one location to another. Once she has mastered shifting behaviors, Viv will eventually graduate to more complicated training activities. Like her herd mates do now, she will later have the choice to participate in varieties of training that allow her to participate in her own health care.

“Our giraffe train to have their hooves trimmed and cared for, their blood drawn, their eyes examined, and of course they train to shift in and out of different areas of their yards and barn,” said Bredahl. “Khalid, our breeding bull, even trains to participate in giraffe ‘yoga,’ which helps him stretch and stay limber. Our giraffe training programs help us take great care of our herd. It also allows us to share what we learn and participate in research studies that benefit giraffe in human care and in the wild, around the world.”

(Try to) keep up with Viv and the 16-member CMZoo giraffe herd every day of the week in African Rift Valley at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. No matter the weather, giraffe feeding opportunities are available to guests daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., either on the outdoor boardwalk or inside the giraffe barn.

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Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s Western lowland gorilla troop of five has been working to acclimate to a cohesive living situation since Goma, a 28-year-old silverback, joined CMZoo in May 2016. After years of introductions that have taken longer than keepers anticipated, the tentative success of this summer’s introductions was critical in deciding whether to continue making efforts or to reassess if Goma could ever permanently join the troop.

“We had heard of successful introductions taking longer, but we had also accepted that there is a point at which, if Goma hadn’t adjusted to living with females, we would have to make a decision about whether we’d continue trying,” said Joanna Husby, Primate World animal care manager. “Just in the last three months, we have seen such amazing progress. It’s really rewarding to see them getting more comfortable with each other, which was our goal for this summer.”

The troop’s bonding progress was even more evident when they had to face the unexpected absence of Roxie – one of the two females Goma is most comfortable with in the group, along with Asha. The 43-year-old female became lethargic and refused to eat or drink in early October 2019.

“If Roxie feels under the weather, she’ll skip a meal, just like any of us might. But we know Roxie, and we realized her behavior this time was different,” said Husby. “After a couple of days, we knew we needed to take more aggressive steps to care for her.”

CMZoo veterinary team and keepers immobilized Roxie the morning of October 6. At the CMZoo vet clinic, Roxie’s examination included whole body x-rays and ultrasounds. She was given IV fluids and supportive medications that helped address any infection that may have been present. The examinations revealed multiple medical conditions, the most concerning of which was a suspected infection of Roxie’s reproductive tract. Throughout her life, Roxie has dealt with kidney issues and ulcer-like cysts that have caused gastrointestinal and reproductive system complications. The exam also revealed age-related changes such as arthritis.

While she was under anesthesia, Roxie suffered a cardiac arrest and was brought back to life with CPR and emergency drugs. Vet staff kept Roxie at the clinic, where they could respond immediately if necessary, for a few hours. When Roxie was stable, she returned to a private room near the troop to recover.

“Roxie has amazed us all,” said Husby. “She really scared us for a second, but she has recovered incredibly well. Within hours of returning to her den, she ate some grapes and drank some juice, which was a big relief.”

Keepers and vet staff checked on Roxie hourly overnight for the first night. The day following the procedure, Roxie was interested in training with her keepers, but she again refused food and drinks. Over the next few days, thanks to keepers’ creative solutions to hydrate Roxie by offering her different juices and foods that interested her, Roxie was able to rejoin the troop and is doing well.

Gorillas are incredibly intelligent and bonded individuals. Although Roxie’s absence could have been detrimental to the progress of the introductions, they have reunited well and continue to make progress.

“The fact that they were separated for about two weeks, during the scare and her recovery, and then had an uneventful reunion speaks to the resilience of their relationship. The female troop members are showing Goma respect by responding calmly to his presence and by following his lead upon moving to different areas of the exhibit,” said Husby. “Goma is still displaying signs of dominance, which is what we want to see. The ladies need to respect him. He’s also showing signs that he’s more comfortable, like lying down near the females and even taking naps. He’s learning that through his calmer demeanor and approach, he’s earning their trust as a leader.”

Summertime in Colorado is the optimal time to work on delicate gorilla introductions, because warmer weather means the gorillas have access to both indoor and outdoor spaces. They have more space to be together, if they want to be, while still having options to be away from each other.

For now, the troop is spending multiple hours per day together. As the weather cools down, and the gorillas don’t have as much access to their outdoor yards, keepers will work to continue providing a balance of time together and time apart for the troop.

“We’re so proud of the ladies and Goma for how much progress they’ve made this summer, even with the potential setback,” said Husby. “We’re looking for ways to continue that progress without regular use of the outdoor yards. Although the procedure with Roxie was very scary, it showed us that they’ve reached a level of comfort and confidence with each other that we hope will continue through the winter months.”

Keepers and vet staff continue to monitor Roxie’s health. We will provide updates as they are available.

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In humans, physical activity not only benefits physical health but mental health as well. At Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, the training and enrichment the animals can choose to participate in are also beneficial.

Research has shown that kids who have moderate physical activity in their day show increased attention, comprehension and learning ability, as our sponsor, Children’s Hospital Colorado explains in this article. The same is true for animals, which is why CMZoo keepers and trainers make daily enrichment and training a priority for the animals in their care, all with positive reinforcement.

“When we provide specific opportunities for animals to be physically active, we often see their overall activity level increase, even outside of the opportunities that we are providing,” said Rick Hester, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo animal behavior programs manager.

Emmett, CMZoo grizzly bear, consistently did a stretch on his own during interactions with keepers, which bears in the wild sometimes do.

“Emmett would sit down and hold his back legs with his front paws,” said Rebecca Zwicker, Rocky Mountain Wild animal care manager. “We saw him doing it so often that we started to incorporate it into his regular training and demonstrations, so our guests can see those natural behaviors. We call it the ‘yoga bear.’”

Over time, CMZoo grizzly bear, Digger, saw Emmett being rewarded for this behavior, and began imitating it, which his keepers of course rewarded.

Guests can see Emmett and Digger doing “yoga bear,” presenting their teeth for keepers to check and offering different parts of their bodies through a safe barrier, where keepers can perform health assessments and decide whether the bears might need veterinary care.

“Most of us know when our dog is excited to head out on a walk in the park, or is nervous about walking into the vet clinic,” said Hester. “Our animal keepers work hard to build trusting relationships with the animals in their care, so they also pick up on those insights from the animals.”

The African lion pride recently showed their keepers that a new and unusual enrichment activity got their approval, says African Rift Valley Keeper, Diana Miller, who has worked with the lions for six years.

“The lions absolutely love bubble baths, and we didn’t realize that until this year,” Miller said. “It surprised us, because we know they don’t usually like getting in the water. But, because we recognize their behaviors, we realized pretty quickly that it was different when bubbles were involved. They absolutely love it. We know they love it, because they play enthusiastically for a long time whenever when we offer them the bubble bath enrichment, and it’s really fun for guests to see.”

For a full schedule of demonstrations and training sessions, visit www.cmzoo.org/shows.

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INTRODUCTIONS CONTINUE AS KEEPERS REMAIN FLEXIBLE

Since he arrived in May 2016, Goma, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s 28-year-old silverback Western lowland gorilla, has been working to incorporate with the gorilla troop of four females, Juju, Roxie, Asha and Kwisha. With a focus on providing an environment which helps all of the gorillas feel safe and in control, keepers are beginning to see promising interactions.

Goma came to CMZoo on a breeding recommendation with one of the females, but the gorillas need to live as a cohesive group before bringing any offspring into the mix, so the females who are young enough to conceive take oral contraceptives for the time being.

Although introductions have been somewhat unusual and challenging, CMZoo keepers and staff continue to stay flexible and seek new ways to provide an environment that promotes positive interactions between Goma and the female gorillas. Goma, who lived with another male gorilla for about 20 years at his previous home, seems to prefer alone time more than most other male gorillas. Staff are working to set the stage for Goma to discover that life with females could be a desirable situation for him.

“He seems to like his peace and quiet, and doesn’t seem like he’s fully convinced about how these ladies can bring him value,” said Dina Bredahl, senior lead keeper in Primate World, who has worked with the primates for nearly 20 years. “We’re figuring out what’s valuable to him, as an individual. He seems to like it when his behavior and movements influence what the females do and where they go. He likes being dominant and keeping the peace among the ladies. We’re looking for opportunities to help him understand that he can have those things, as an integrated part of this group.”

Allowing Goma to have his solitude while providing opportunities for him to adjust to life as a troop with the females is a delicate balance that requires respectful patience for their process. Keepers follow the gorillas’ lead, by collecting and discussing data on the gorillas’ behavior during introductions and adjusting what they do based on that information so the introductions are as calm and safe as possible, for all involved.

Summertime in Colorado is the best time to work on gorilla introductions, because it allows the gorillas into indoor and outdoor spaces. They have more space to be together if they want to be, while having options to be away from each other.

“We do introductions based on their behavior,” said Bredahl. “If it seems like they’re acting unusual or uncomfortable, we will give the gorillas the option to separate in their respective spaces for the rest of the day and will try again the next day.”

When they’re separated, the four females live together peacefully with Goma nearby next door, where they can still hear, smell and see each other. When they’re together, keepers have found it works well to open the doors to all indoor spaces and the outside exhibit. When the gorillas have had enough time together, they have ways of letting the keepers know.

“We know these gorillas well and can usually tell if they’re feeling confident in a situation,” said Bredahl. “Sometimes Goma will move into his favorite habitat or room and pull the door closed behind him, like he’s saying to us, ‘Okay, I’m done now.’”

If a female feels uncomfortable with Goma’s presence, she will make an alarm call, which the other females respond to by defending the female who called. When keepers see this, they monitor the scenario and, depending on the situation, might encourage the troop to separate. This year the gorillas have resolved their few conflicts on their own, without staff intervening.

The list of space options and troop member combinations keepers have presented to the gorillas during introductions is exhaustive. The goal, for now, is to see the gorillas sharing a space and displaying calm and positive behaviors toward each other.

They’ve tried different combinations of female troop members with Goma, in hopes that he would feel less overwhelmed by the interactions. Barriers are placed a few feet back from the gorilla exhibit during introductions to prevent guests from going up close to their spaces, which could distract them. Keepers have found that gorillas with full stomachs tend to display calmer behavior, so they make sure the troop members have eaten well before they spend time together. They’re careful about which foods are available to them during interactions, so there’s no perceived competition among the gorillas over a favorite food item. They also have ways of letting the gorillas know what is about to happen, so the gorillas are prepared to share space when introductions begin.

This summer, with all troop members present and all of their spaces available, CMZoo staff members have seen some encouraging progress, especially between Asha, a 26-year-old female, and Goma. The two showed more promise of making a connection last year during introductions than any of the other troop members and Goma.

“We’ve been working to build on positive things we’ve seen them doing together,” said Joanna Husby, Primate World animal care manager. “We’ve seen Goma building nests, and sleeping and eating while he’s with the girls, which means he’s relaxed and comfortable around them. He’s learning how to communicate, how to lead fairly and how to accept it when the girls aren’t receptive to him.”

While these introductions are taking longer than keepers initially anticipated, they’re aware of other successful gorilla troop integrations that have taken longer. CMZoo is working with its gorilla breeding recommendation partners to keep them apprised of how things are going.

There is a point at which, if the troop hasn’t accepted Goma, organizations involved will have to make a decision about whether to continue making attempts. For now, keepers will continue providing these opportunities for the gorillas to form a cohesive troop together, and they view the progress of this summer’s introductions as a positive indication for what’s to come.

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PLACENTA FROM PENNY THE GIRAFFE CALF’S BIRTH CONTRIBUTES TO GROUNDBREAKING GIRAFFE VETERINARY CARE AND RESEARCH

When Penny, a reticulated giraffe calf, was born at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo on June 4, 2018, Dr. Liza Dadone, head veterinarian and VP of mission and programs, couldn’t have known that the next few months of care for the sixteen-member giraffe herd would present such complicated cases. Since Penny’s passing late last summer, her legacy has continued both by helping people around the world fall in love with giraffe and by helping advance giraffe medicine in zoos.

Within months of Penny’s birth, the giraffe care team was managing unprecedented rare cases including a brand-new calf who needed intensive medical care, a chronic ligament strain in a mature male, and a mature female who would eventually reveal a false-positive pregnancy – one of only four such cases of the false diagnostic result ever documented.

Dr. Dadone did, however, know how precious a placenta could be to help improve both therapies and diagnostics for giraffe medicine. Minutes after then-20-year-old Muziki gave birth to Penny, Jason Bredahl, giraffe animal care manager at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, picked up the placenta and handed it off to Dr. Dadone.

New Diagnostics: A New Giraffe Pregnancy Test

“I had been speaking with Dr. Priya Bapodra-Villaverde at Columbus Zoo and Aquarium about a new, more accurate giraffe-specific pregnancy test she had been working on. Although the test had been used successfully on other hoofstock species, we knew that part of the giraffe placenta could contribute to this research,” said Dr. Dadone. “We split the placenta between Dr. Bapodra-Villaverde’s team and the vet team at Colorado State University, who would use it to develop a line of giraffe stem cells that can be used to help manage arthritis and other conditions.”

In late July 2018, CMZoo had to say a heartbreaking goodbye to Penny, whose story had captured the hearts of people around the world. As CMZoo put Penny to rest, her legacy continued with her placenta’s research contributing to creating a new, more accurate giraffe pregnancy test, and to creating a giraffe stem cell line.

Laikipia was the first giraffe in our herd to be tested with the new pregnancy test. Laikipia was thought to be pregnant at the same time Muzuki was pregnant with Penny, but the fact that she never gave birth puzzled giraffe experts at CMZoo and beyond. Throughout the international network of AZA-accredited organizations with whom CMZoo shares and gains input on rare cases, like hers, she was one of only four giraffe ever known to consistently falsely test positive for pregnancy.

Ever since breeding with CMZoo giraffe bull, Khalid, Laikipia had tested positive for pregnancy – but did not test positive before breeding. The CMZoo giraffe care team used the usually reliable methods of confirming pregnancy in a giraffe, including a lack of menses and elevated progesterone levels in blood and fecal samples. They even attempted logistically challenging ultrasounds, which proved inconclusive, as they often do in giraffe.

By October 2018, Laikipia had surpassed her gestation window without signs of miscarriage and with consistently elevated progesterone levels, and Dr. Dadone and her team continued to look for ways to diagnose Laikipia’s condition.

The timing was almost perfect. The new pregnancy test, developed by Columbus Zoo’s lab partner BioTracking, Inc. was ready for real-world trials in spring 2019, after being used to successfully detect pregnancy in two giraffe at the Columbus Zoo. Knowing there was no way Laikipia was still pregnant, despite her continued positive pregnancy test results, Dr. Dadone knew Laikipia was the perfect candidate to test the accuracy of the new test.

“We thought, ‘if any giraffe could break this new test, it’d be Laikipia,’” said Dr. Dadone. “We also knew Msitu was pregnant, so we tested her pregnancy to validate the accuracy of this new diagnostic.”

The new blood test, which detects a protein only present in pregnant giraffe, called Pregnancy-Specific Protein B (PSPB), could also help confirm pregnancy sooner than traditional progesterone-detecting pregnancy tests. Even more helpful for veterinary staff and animal care managers everywhere, early results suggest it could more precisely predict when a calf might be born.

“On the anniversary of Penny’s birth, we got the news that the new pregnancy test, developed in part thanks to Penny’s contribution, appears to be a great new diagnostic tool for giraffe,” said Dr. Dadone. “Laikipia’s pregnancy test came back negative and Msitu’s came back positive. While the lab is still running samples from more pregnant giraffe, this is hugely promising. We have Penny and her mom, Muziki, to thank for helping us detect and confirm this new test can work in giraffe.”

Dr. Dadone and Columbus Zoo and Aquarium will continue collaborating on ways to better diagnose and monitor giraffe pregnancy. The new pregnancy test, once fully validated, should help the zoo community more accurately predict when their giraffe are pregnant and due to give birth.

At this stage, the vet team believes Laikipia has a hormone-secreting cyst, which isn’t life-threatening and doesn’t appear to be causing her any pain or discomfort, but can cause long-term elevations in progesterone. The team now plans to start her on hormone therapy to try to help her return to normal cycling. This is a therapy used in cattle and sometime other hoofstock, but has not been previously reported for giraffe.

New Treatments in Giraffe Medicine: Stem Cell Therapy

The second half of Penny’s placenta was sent to Colorado State University, to grow a new line of stem cells used for therapeutic purposes in giraffe.

The Zoo previously used stem cell treatments grown from blood collected from a giraffe in our herd, that already trained to donate blood. However, there was some indication that stem cell lines developed from placentas could provide even greater therapeutic benefits for giraffe with chronic issues like arthritis.

Penny’s stem cell line was used on two patients, the first of which was herself. Some of the cells were used to try to help Penny recover from a splay injury and infection. While that ultimately wasn’t enough to turn around her case, a second giraffe was also treated with stem cells grown from her placenta. At Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines, Iowa, a 21-year-old giraffe named Zuri was treated with cells to help manage her advanced age-related conditions. Following this treatment, Zuri’s coat grew in thicker and she had some clinical improvement. While Zuri passed away in May 2019, both of these cases are helping the zoo community learn more about clinical applications and potential benefits of stem cell therapy in zoo giraffe.

Stem cell therapy is now being used for 9-year-old CMZoo giraffe Mashama.

“Mashama has been dealing with sprained ligaments and a fracture in his right foot,” said Dr. Dadone. “Combine those issues with a ligament strain in his right front wrist [that looks like the right front knee], which preceded the fracture, and we have a pretty complex case to solve. We have tried therapeutic shoes, laser therapy, rest, and more. The next logical step is a cell stem treatment.”

While Penny’s placental stem cells have all been used with those first two cases, in July, Mashama was treated with a stem cell line grown at CSU. CMZoo is watching him closely and is hopeful the stem cell therapy can help him continue to heal, and help the zoo community learn more about applying novel therapies like stem cells to better manage health issues in giraffe.

The placenta from the calf born at CMZoo on July 6, 2019, will also be used to contribute to scientific advancements to make a stem cell line, like Penny’s did. Dr. Dadone and CMZoo staff will continue contributing to research and studies that will benefit the health of giraffe in human care, and in the wild.

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– CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL COLORADO PRESENTS OPEN-TO-THE-PUBLIC BIRTHDAY PARTY, SUNDAY JUNE 30 AT 10 A.M. –

Turning fifty years old is a big deal for anyone. When an elephant turns fifty, it’s an enormous occasion. Missy, one of Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s female African elephants, is half a century old this year, and Children’s Hospital Colorado is partnering with CMZoo to make it a momentous celebration fit for a true golden girl. Staff from Children’s Hospital Colorado will have a booth at the event, and encourage guests to stop by to say hello and enjoy some party favors.

Missy, who moved to CMZoo from Lee Richardson Zoo in 2015, is one of the oldest African elephants in the country. But, according to Senior Lead Elephant Keeper, Ilana Cobban, that doesn’t slow her down.

“She’s always the first one out of the barn and into the main yard every morning,” Cobban said. “Missy’s personality is, in my opinion, like one of “The Golden Girls” characters. She does what she wants, when she wants and isn’t afraid to demand what she needs or wants.”

Cobban says that during training, Missy will sometimes misread her trainer’s request and will launch into a training routine because she’s so eager to participate.

“If she sees you move her ‘target stick,’ which we use for training, she might think it’s time to do yoga and will start offering those behaviors right away,” Cobban said. “It usually happens in the demo yard, and guests think it’s hilarious. Once we can get Missy’s attention to convey the behavior we’re actually asking her to do, she looks at you like she’s thinking, ‘Why would I not do my yoga routine right now?’”

Although blind in her left eye, Missy is in remarkably good health for her age, Cobban said.

“She’s old, but she’s in such good health,” said Cobban. “We have to train a little differently with her when we’re on her left side, but it really doesn’t impact her. She’s smart, and she’s fast. Don’t get in her way.”
Missy the African elephant swimming in pool
When keepers call Missy’s name to shift to another part of the elephant exhibit, she doesn’t waste a moment. She does her signature ‘power walk’ on the most direct route to where she’s going – no matter what (or who) is in the way.

While younger members of the CMZoo African elephant herd may take 45 minutes to walk the quarter-mile elephant trek at the Zoo, Missy often finishes in ten minutes. While she’s patient, she seems to enjoy quickly embracing what’s next.

“Usually, during elephant feedings, we ask the elephant to ‘rest’ between each piece of produce a guest is feeding them,” said Cobban. “When they ‘rest,’ they relax their trunks on the ground. With Missy, we just stopped asking her because she never wanted to rest. She would gently take the item from the guest’s hand with her trunk, pop it in her mouth, and immediately reach her trunk out for the next piece. She doesn’t get impatient waiting for the next piece; she just doesn’t want to rest.”

Guests will have the chance to see Missy in action at her 50th birthday party, presented by Children’s Hospital Colorado, on Sunday, June 30, 2019 at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.

The party starts at 10 a.m. in Encounter Africa and ends at noon. Guests can enjoy watching Missy and her best friend, LouLou, participating in some special birthday enrichment activities, then have the chance to feed Missy at 11 a.m. and see Missy dive into an elephant-sized birthday cake, made with her favorite snacks, at 11:30 a.m.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
(Subject to Missy’s choice to participate or not)

10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Write a “Message to Missy,” take a free photo with elephant-themed props at our photo booth, and learn about African elephants from our CMZoo Docents with elephant biofacts.

10:10 a.m.
Missy and her best friend, LouLou, have the opportunity to enjoy special birthday enrichment activities in the main elephant yard.

10:45 a.m.
Keepers Caring for Elephants Demonstration

11 to 11:30 a.m.
Elephant Feeding Opportunities with Missy ($10 to $15 per feeding)

11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Join us in singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Missy, as she enjoys an elephant-sized birthday cake, made with her favorite snacks.

For more information about Missy’s 50th Birthday Party, visit our Facebook Event Page

Missy is the eldest of the six female African elephants who live at CMZoo. She’s often in the yard with LouLou, who is 37 and came to CMZoo from Lee Richardson Zoo with Missy. Kimba, 41, is the largest of the group, weighing in at just over 8,500 pounds. Lucky, 39, sometimes shares space with Kimba. She is playful and can often be seen splashing around in the water in their main yard. Jambo, 36, and Malaika, 33, are known as the sassiest and prefer to spend solo time in one of their many spaces at the Zoo. Guests can visit the African elephant herd any day of the year, in Encounter Africa at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.

One of the oldest elephants in the U.S. becomes a true “Golden Girl”

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is inviting media and the public to celebrate our oldest resident’s 50th birthday. Children’s Hospital Colorado is presenting the birthday party for Missy, a female African elephant, who will have the opportunity to participate in special birthday enrichment activities, including an elephant-sized birthday cake. Guests can take free photos in our elephant-themed photo booth, learn about Missy and the CMZoo African elephant herd of six aging females during a keeper demonstration, participate in paid feeding opportunities with Missy, and more.

Missy has surpassed the median life expectancy (MLE) for her fellow female African elephants living in zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums. At 50, she has surpassed the MLE by about 12 years, and it’s possible that she could continue to thrive for many more years. Missy is in good health, and is one of the fastest power-walkers in the herd. Her keepers describe her as, “patient but demanding, kind of like you’d expect a ‘Golden Girl’ to be.” She is one of the oldest African elephants currently living in the U.S.

WHO – Missy, CMZoo African elephant
CMZoo guests, members and staff
Children’s Hospital Colorado

WHAT – A birthday party to celebrate Missy’s 50th birthday

WHERE – Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s Encounter Africa Exhibit

WHEN – Sunday, June 30, 2019
10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

SCHEDULE
(Subject to Missy’s choice to participate or not)

10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Write a “Message to Missy,” take a free photo with elephant-themed props at Children’s Hospital Colorado’s photo booth, and learn about African elephants from our CMZoo Docents with elephant biofacts.

10:10 a.m.
Missy and her best friend, LouLou, have the opportunity to enjoy special birthday enrichment activities in the main elephant yard.

10:45 a.m.
Keepers Caring for Elephants Demonstration

11 to 11:30 a.m.
Elephant Feeding Opportunities with Missy
($10 to $15 per feeding)

11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Join us in singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Missy, as she enjoys an elephant-sized birthday cake, made with her favorite snacks.

About Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Cheyenne Mountain Zoological Society was founded in 1926. Today, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, America’s mountain Zoo, offers comprehensive education programs, exciting conservation efforts and truly fantastic animal experiences. In 2019, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo was voted #6 Best Zoo in North America and CMZoo’s Rocky Mountain Wild was named #5 Best Zoo Exhibit in North America by USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards. It is Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s goal to help guests fall in love with animals and nature, and take action to protect them. Of the 233 zoos and aquariums accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is one of just a few operating without tax support. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo depends on admissions, membership dues, special event attendance and donations for funding.

Mashama, 9-year-old reticulated giraffe, is known for his outgoing personality and energetic presence in the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo giraffe herd. Lately, though, Mashama has been dealing with some foot and leg issues.

“We’ve discovered that Mashama has sprained ligaments and a fracture in his right foot,” said Dr. Liza Dadone, CMZoo head veterinarian and VP of mission and programs. “Combine those issues with a ligament strain in his right front wrist [that looks like the right front knee], which preceded the fracture, and we have a pretty complex case to solve.”

Mashama’s care team saw him limping after he stumbled during an especially playful day in the main yard a few months ago, and took x-rays of his foot. The x-rays revealed no significant damage, so his care team began to administer pain medications and moved him to a sand stall to let a perceived muscle strain heal with rest, over time. After a couple of weeks of normally effective sand stall rest for Mashama, the team noticed he wasn’t improving as much as they would have liked to see, so they performed additional testing.

Those tests revealed that he had developed a fracture in his right front foot. CMZoo’s veterinary team, keepers, trainers and animal care managers have been working together with outside partner organizations to consider every possible treatment for Mashama.

One of those treatments is a customized ”shoe” that adheres to his right front hoof. CMZoo regularly works with specialized farriers from the Zoo Hoofstock Trim Program (ZHTP), a subspecialty of the Equine Lameness Prevention Organization. The ZHTP team built Mashama a custom “shoe” in early April 2019 that seemed to help stabilize the foot fracture while it healed. Almost immediately, from the time the shoe was in place, Mashama appeared to be putting more weight on his right front foot, indicating he was much more comfortable. After several weeks of healing, he was able to access an outside side yard, which has smoother terrain than the main yard.

Earlier this month, Mashama’s shoe came unglued and had to be removed. The team built him a second shoe and applied it mid-May.

In the accompanying video from May 15, 2019, Mashama receives his new shoe. Steve Foxworth, CMZoo’s farrier expert, from ZHTP, explains the shoe’s design and material, and Mashama’s team displays his incredible participatory behaviors that allow them to care for him in situations like this.

“Two months into this path, he’s looking better and better,” said Dadone. “We are by no means out of the woods, but we’re seeing improvements and will continue exploring other options that will help Mashama address the issues in his wrist and foot. A fracture and a sprained ligament could go on to cause significant health problems for him, if we’re unable to stop their progression.”

Because Mashama is such an exemplary participant in his own health care, he is trained for blood draws. His comfort level with blood draws makes him an ideal candidate to receive IV injection treatments that could help him.

“One option we’re considering is an equine medication we’ve used in other giraffe that increases bone density,” said Dadone. “The drug is administered intravenously and must be absorbed in the affected areas for ten minutes. This drug could reverse the course of his injuries, but it’s not easy to administer.”

Staff would need to apply a tourniquet to Mashama’s leg and administer the drug through an IV into the lower portion of his right front leg – giving the most deteriorated bones the best opportunity to absorb the drug. The tourniquet would need to stay in place for ten minutes. That’s a long time to ask an energetic and curious animal like Mashama to stay still.

“Normally, we need to anesthetize an animal to administer this drug,” said Dadone. “But since Mashama is such a rockstar at training, we’re going to see if he’ll participate in training to stay still for that long. It’s always a last resort to anesthetize an adult giraffe, because there are more potential risks than with other animals, so keeping him awake for the procedure would be best.”

Another option is stem cell treatments to help reduce inflammation and speed healing in his foot bones and sprained wrist joint. CMZoo has successfully used this treatment with other giraffe in the herd, but again, the treatment process is complicated. Stem cells have to be administered through the jugular vein in the neck, and have to be kept at a very cold temperature, which would be an unusual sensation for Mashama.

“We’re not quite there yet, but it’s an option. It’s on the experimental side, but we have seen it help in a small number of cases at our Zoo and a few others,” said Dadone. “We’ve tried laser therapy, hoof trims and sand stall rest, to no avail for him. The shoes are offering some comfort and relief, but we’re looking at all options to help him recover long-term.”

Mashama’s team of CMZoo vets, keepers, trainers and staff will continue working to test solutions for him. For now, the new rubber shoes appear to be helping Mashama walk and stand more comfortably, and he’ll return to the outdoor yard with the rest of the herd when his care team decides it doesn’t pose a risk of further injury for him.

We’ll keep you updated on Mashama’s progress, and hope to see him soon return to his former playful self with the success of these potential treatments.

In anticipation of Mother’s Day, we’re celebrating some of the animal matriarchs who live with their offspring at CMZoo. Take a walk down memory lane as we remember their adorable babies and check in with the moms and their growing offspring today.

Providing excellent health care for the hundreds of animals at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo comes in many forms. Depending on their individual needs, animals might receive special diets, exercise plans, laser therapy treatments, vaccines, medications and more. Their health care plans often involve injections, both proactively in the form of annual vaccinations, and reactively with medications that can help them through an illness or injury.

Most CMZoo animals participate in voluntary injection training, designed to help keepers and animals prepare for and reduce stress involved with real injections when necessary. Some CMZoo animals participate in their own health care by also taking part in voluntary blood draws. During injection and blood draw training, the animals have the opportunity to walk away at any time but typically choose to stay and participate. These blood draws allow vets to test animals for any issues and respond to them accurately. The blood draws also contribute to national and international research projects that benefit countless species in human care and in the wild.

Through these voluntary blood draws, CMZoo is able to contribute to a giraffe blood plasma bank. The plasma bank is shared with other AZA-accredited institutions, and can help giraffe calves who are struggling to survive in their first days.

Just as Children’s Hospital Colorado provides tips to help children overcome the fear of shots, CMZoo Animal Behavior Programs Manager Rick Hester shared his approach to helping CMZoo’s animals respond comfortably to necessary injections and blood draws.

Teach prerequisite skills first.
Before we ever get to needles, we teach animals to present various body parts to us, hold still, and allow us to touch them with various benign objects, like our hand, a key, or a stick. These are some of the necessary skills for them to succeed when we need to give a real injection or perform a blood draw.

Arrange the environment.
We look at the overall environment and arrange everything for the animal to be successful. A comfortable place to sit or stand, an easy way for us to deliver food treats, limiting noise or other distractions if possible — these are all examples of ways we arrange the environment for success.

Find the right reinforcers.
Our training program focuses on positive reinforcement techniques. To be successful, we need to have the right reinforcers, depending on the animal and depending on the behavior we are teaching. For behaviors like holding still for an injection or a blood draw, we use high-value food items such as fruit snacks for an orangutan, marshmallows for an African elephant, or chicken for an African lion.

Celebrate small steps towards the goal.
We would rarely be successful if we expected an animal to present its shoulder and let us give them a vaccination during our very first training session! We reinforce small approximations (what some might call “baby steps”) to get them to the final goal. For example, they could start by presenting their shoulder to a keeper’s hand, then a stick or a pen, then finally a syringe. We reinforce each successful step or approximation and move forward to the next as the animal performs each step confidently. This style of teaching provides the animal with a lot of information about how to be successful and builds their confidence quickly.

Prepare the site.
For some species, we apply ice to the injection site prior to giving a vaccination or performing a blood draw. This helps reduce the response to the needle poke for some animals.

Follow the animals’ lead.
Do we have to give the injection in the shoulder if an individual seems more comfortable presenting a hip or leg? We let the animal’s behavior influence what the final goal looks like in all of our training. In this way, our training is a dialogue between humans and animals, helping to set both up for success.

Children’s Hospital Colorado is a year-round sponsor of Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.