Exhibits Archives

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.

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ROCKY MOUNTAIN WILD NAMED #2 BEST ZOO EXHIBIT IN NORTH AMERICA – Colorado Springs, Colo. (March 13, 2024) – For the eighth consecutive year, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo has been voted one of the top ten zoos in North America in USA TODAY’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards. This time, America’s mountain Zoo was recognized in two categories:

#5 Best Zoo in North America
#2 Best Zoo Exhibit in North America, for Rocky Mountain Wild

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo aims to set itself apart by making every guest experience inspiring. With its simply stated vision, “Every Kid. Every Time. Goosebumps.” at its cultural core, CMZoo creates environments and experiences that bring people closer to animals. Exhibits are designed to remove as many physical barriers as safely possible between guests and animals. Guests can experience this for themselves by hand feeding the giraffe herd – one of the largest herds in North America, with 17 giraffe – or by waddling alongside penguins or getting eye-to-eye with hippos at CMZoo’s newest exhibit, Water’s Edge: Africa. CMZoo’s goal is to foster connections that inspire guests to take action to protect animals and their habitats in the wild.

Rocky Mountain Wild, an area of the Zoo that is home to animals from the Zoo’s native region, was named #2 Best Zoo Exhibit in North America. Rocky Mountain Wild opened in the summer of 2008, appropriately hugging the highest elevations of CMZoo’s developed mountainside acreage. The area is home to a pack of endangered Mexican wolves, Canada lynx, an Alaska moose, a bald eagle, two grizzly bears, three mountain lions and four river otters. Rocky Mountain Wild is known for its expansive natural exhibits, exquisite views, and enthusiastic and passionate team of animal keepers.

This is the sixth time Rocky Mountain Wild has been nominated in the Best Zoo Exhibit category, and the eighth time Cheyenne Mountain Zoo has been nominated in the Best Zoo category. A panel of travel experts, recruited by USA TODAY editors, nominated 20 North American Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited zoos and exhibits, and supporters had four weeks to cast their votes once per day for the nominees of their choice.

The 2024 USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Top Ten Best Zoos in North America, in ranking order, are:

1. Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium
2. Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden
3. North Carolina Zoo
4. Honolulu Zoo
5. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
6. Brevard Zoo
7. Audubon Zoo
8. San Diego Zoo
9. Saint Louis Zoo
10. ZooMontana

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 2023, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo was voted #4 Best Zoo in North America and CMZoo’s Rocky Mountain Wild was named #2 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. Since 2008, CMZoo’s Quarters for Conservation program has raised $5 million dedicated to frontline conservation efforts around the world. Of the 238 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.

Six life-sized bronze giraffe sculptures will welcome guests to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, as part of the new admissions and giraffe habitat updates happening in the coming years – and their creation is a tall order.

“I’ve been using a lot of ladders,” said Antonia Chastain, public art manager at CMZoo. “These are the largest sculptures I’ve ever done, and it’s quite a process. We have probably years ahead of us in this creation. But it’s exciting to see the first one coming together now, and the plan is to unveil them as part of the hundred-year anniversary of the Zoo, in 2026.”

The sculptures started as six-inch clay thumbnail sketches. Once the team was happy with the general design, Chastain sculpted detailed four-foot clay maquettes. To create the most lifelike sculptures, she relied on the expertise of the giraffe team to portray giraffe attitudes and postures correctly.

Chastain spends weeks with the CMZoo giraffe team, leaning on the giraffe herd’s voluntary hoof care behaviors to measure the giraffe. They measure from hoof to knee, around the diameters of their calves, the lengths of their tails, legs, necks and more, to get the proportions right in the maquettes phase. Known for her attention to detail, Chastain also meticulously studied and sculpted eyelid wrinkles, hair, hoof texture, spots and skin folds.

“Then, you need to make sure the four-foot models’ knees and ankles are proportional, because if you enlarge them to five times the size for the final sculptures, you could end up with knees that look like elephant knees above ankles made for giraffe,” said Chastain. “It’s so important that the proportions are correct.”

To create the next size up, the foundry artists scan the four-foot clay models into a 3-D printer that produces foam pieces five times their size – one piece at a time. The foam pieces are reconstructed into a life-sized full giraffe, then Chastain reapplies a layer of clay to the huge replicas. Once every detail is carved back into the clay, the team casts each piece in bronze and welds them together.

The one being sculpted in its final size now is posed bending down to nuzzle her calf, and she is ten feet tall at the curve of her neck. The other mother giraffe sculptures are posed more upright, and will be around 18 feet tall when they’re finished.

As of now, the plan is to create three visual stories of mother giraffe and their calves. The statue of Penny, a giraffe calf who inspired millions during her short life at CMZoo, will move from its current location by the giraffe barn to become part of this larger display. The three mother giraffe and two additional giraffe calf statues are not representations of any individual giraffe. However, especially attentive giraffe fans might notice spot patterns, poses or ossicone shapes inspired by other giraffe from CMZoo.

“The various poses are homages to their nurturing instinct and the special connection between mother and baby,” said Chastain. “One set is stretching towards each other to nuzzle face-to-face and there’s a line between their necks that’s just beautiful form and flow. The third pair is a nod to when kids are little and they’re shy to meet someone new. Their instinct is to lean against mom for security, kind of a ‘hold my hand’ feel.”

As the sculptures continue to take shape and eventually make their way to the Zoo, CMZoo will share updates.

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There are some new whiskers, feathers and wings for you to visit in My Big Backyard on your next CMZoo adventure. Stop by and say hello to the 2-month-old guinea fowl chick (known as a keet), honeybees, African fruit chafer beetles, 3-month-old rats and extinct-in-the-wild Simandoa cave roaches!

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Petrie’s and Layla’s charming antics, from their playful foot-slaps to their enthusiastic enrichment tossing, make it impossible not to adore them.

Our Abyssinian (Northern) ground hornbills have been spending a lot of time exploring their unique home! Their exhibit was inspired by a real-life shop near our conservation partner Tsavo Trust in Kenya, showcasing the coexistence of humans and animals in rural Africa.

Hornbills are curious and intelligent creatures, and they love to investigate everything in their sight. This can lead to human-wildlife conflicts in their native environment. Hornbills tend to break windows during breeding season because they think their reflection is a competing bird. Painting windows, putting mesh in front of windows and using unbreakable materials are some solutions to this problem. Locals are working with conservationists to catch and relocate problem birds.

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ANNUAL HOLIDAY LIGHTS CELEBRATION CONTINUES THROUGH SUNDAY, JAN. 1, 2023 – USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards today announced that Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s Electric Safari ranked third in the national Best Zoo Lights category for the fourth year in a row. This is the seventh year running that Electric Safari has ranked in the top ten.

The top ten Best Zoo Lights finalists are, in order of rankings:

1. PNC Festival of Lights at the Cincinnati Zoo
2. Lights Before Christmas at the Toledo Zoo
3. ELECTRIC SAFARI AT CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN ZOO
4. Wild Winter Lights at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
5. Christmas at the Zoo at the Indianapolis Zoo
6. Philadelphia Zoo LumiNature
7. Zoo Lights Miami
8. Dallas Zoo Lights
9. U.S. Bank Wild Lights at the Saint Louis Zoo
10. WildLights at Living Desert Zoo and Gardens

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s 32nd annual month-long celebration of the season continues through Sun., Jan. 1 (except Christmas Eve, Sat., Dec. 24), featuring 50 acres of twinkling lights, 85 artisan-made light sculptures and breathtaking nighttime city views. The Zoo’s holiday collection of larger-than-life illuminated animal inflatables continues to grow with the additions of a peacock and a color-changing chameleon this year, joining last year’s orangutan, African lion, ring-tailed lemur, sloth, African penguin, monarch butterfly, and meerkat.

Electric Safari is the only event in Colorado where you can:

– see over 85 one-of-a-kind light sculptures
– visit select animal exhibits
– hand-feed a giraffe herd ($3 per lettuce bundle or $5 for two bundles)
– visit Santa (through Dec. 23)
– explore 50 acres of twinkling lights and dancing light displays
– see larger-than-life illuminated inflatable animals
– cozy up around fire pits and warming stations throughout the Zoo
– get the best nighttime views of Colorado Springs from the side of Cheyenne Mountain

Bundle up, grab some hot cocoa and make memories with loved ones. Brand-new this year, you can save $5 per ticket by visiting on a non-peak night! See the 2022 Electric Safari pricing calendar, get tickets and learn more at cmzoo.org/electric.

Advance timed tickets are required for both members and non-members. Zoo member tickets are free, but must be reserved in advance. Everyone visiting the Zoo must have their own advance e-ticket, including children age 2 and under. Timed tickets from 4-5 p.m. are for Zoo members and their paying guests only. Electric Safari opens to the public at 5 p.m.

Electric Safari wouldn’t be complete without visiting select animal exhibits. Electric Safari offers paid feeding opportunities with CMZoo’s famous giraffe herd and budgie flock. Water’s Edge: Africa, the giraffe barn, the elephant and rhino barn, the African lion relaxation room, Rocky Mountain Wild (except grizzly bears), Asian Highlands, Scutes Family Gallery and Budgie Buddies are open.

Electric Safari is an important fundraiser for CMZoo, which doesn’t receive any tax support. Your ticket to Electric Safari helps us fund animal care, Zoo operations and improvements, and conservation projects. Please join us in thanking our generous supporting Electric Safari partners, CenturyLink Fiber, Children’s Hospital Colorado, Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, Toyota, and U.S. Bank.

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 2022, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo was voted #3 Best Zoo in North America and CMZoo’s Rocky Mountain Wild was named #2 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. Since 2008, CMZoo’s Quarters for Conservation program has raised more $4 million dedicated to frontline conservation efforts around the world. Of the 238 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.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN WILD NAMED #2 BEST ZOO EXHIBIT IN NORTH AMERICA – For the sixth consecutive year, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo has been voted one of the top ten zoos in North America in the USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards. This time, America’s mountain Zoo was recognized in two categories: #3 Best Zoo in North America and #2 Best Zoo Exhibit in North America, for its Rocky Mountain Wild exhibit. This marks the highest ranking the Zoo has received in the Best Zoo category, and ties the highest ranking it has received for Best Zoo Exhibit.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo aims to set itself apart by making every guest experience inspiring. With its simply stated vision, “Every Kid. Every Time. Goosebumps.” at its cultural core, CMZoo creates environments and experiences that bring people closer to animals. Exhibits are designed to remove as many physical barriers as safely possible between guests and animals. Guests can experience this for themselves by hand feeding the giraffe herd – one of the largest herds in North America, with 17 giraffe – or by waddling alongside penguins or getting eye-to-eye with a baby hippo at CMZoo’s newest exhibit, Water’s Edge: Africa. CMZoo’s goal is to foster connections that inspire guests to take action to protect animals and their habitats in the wild.

Rocky Mountain Wild, an area of the Zoo that is home to animals from the Zoo’s native region, was named #2 Best Zoo Exhibit in North America. Rocky Mountain Wild opened in the summer of 2008, appropriately hugging the highest elevations of CMZoo’s developed mountainside acreage. The area is home to a pack of endangered Mexican wolves, four Canada lynx, an Alaska moose, two North American porcupines, a bald eagle, two grizzly bears, three mountain lions and four river otters. Rocky Mountain Wild is known for its expansive natural exhibits, exquisite views, and enthusiastic and passionate team of animal keepers.

This is the fourth time Rocky Mountain Wild has been nominated in the Best Zoo Exhibit category, and the sixth time Cheyenne Mountain Zoo has been nominated in the Best Zoo category. A panel of travel experts, recruited by USA TODAY editors, nominated 20 North American Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited zoos and exhibits, and supporters had four weeks to cast their votes once per day for the nominees of their choice.

The 2022 USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Top Ten Best Zoos in North America, in ranking order, are:

1. Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden – Cincinnati, Ohio
2. Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium – Omaha, Nebraska
3. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo – Colorado Springs, Colorado
4. Brevard Zoo – Melbourne, Florida
5. Memphis Zoo – Memphis, Tennessee
6. Audubon Zoo – New Orleans, Louisiana
7. Philadelphia Zoo – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
8. Columbus Zoo and Aquarium – Columbus, Ohio
9. Houston Zoo – Houston, Texas
10. Saint Louis Zoo – St. Louis, Missouri

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 2022, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo was voted #3 Best Zoo in North America and CMZoo’s Rocky Mountain Wild was named #2 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 very few operating without tax support. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo depends on admissions, membership dues, special event attendance and donations for funding.

If you’ve visited Asian Highlands at CMZoo lately, you’ve probably noticed a lot of activity around the south leopard habitat. Our keepers, grounds and maintenance crews, and Zoo architect, have been working together to upgrade the leopards’ home, thanks to generous support from a friend of the Zoo.

The cross-departmental CMZoo design team brought different kinds of expertise to the table, each presenting goals and offering solutions to each other’s challenges. The first thing guests will likely notice is how much more of the exhibit they can see. The glass is gone, which means our guests can see the leopards better without a glare, and the huge log-and-steel crossbeam required for the glass-front structure could also be removed. Without that necessary structure, guests will have a much better view of a lounging leopard high in the trees. The leopards’ new perching is closer to the mesh, too, so the cats have a great view overlooking the Zoo. With as few barriers as is safely possible, guests can feel closer to them, which fosters the connections we believe inspire people to support conservation.

“Our goal was to make their home more enriching for the leopards, and more immersive for our guests,” said Basia Dann, Asian Highlands keeper. “They have tons of new perching, an upgraded waterfall, and mesh at the viewing area, instead of glass. So far, guests seem super excited about the glass being gone, and leopards are taking advantage of new opportunities in that habitat.”

Three leopards will use the habitat: Bhutan, a 13-year-old male snow leopard; Anya, an 8-year-old female Amur leopard; and Anadyr, a 6-year-old male Amur leopard. The Amur leopards will sometimes share the space together, and sometimes they’ll explore it alone. When they’re not in the newly remodeled leopard exhibit, they’re exploring other yards, including the guest-facing north leopard yard, just above Australia Walkabout.

Bhutan prefers the solitary life, so he’ll enjoy the new digs by himself. Based on Bhutan’s reaction to his first time in the new setup, he approves.

“Bhutan likes to lay in flatter, cooler spots, so we added some shady soil patches for him by the waterfall,” said Dann. “The first time he came into the exhibit, he spotted one of those patches and immediately went to lie down in it. It’s rewarding to see that our team’s hard work combined with our intimate knowledge of these cats is going to benefit them on a daily basis.”

Most CMZoo visitors are aware of the enrichment activities and training sessions keepers provide to keep our animals mentally and physically fulfilled. But, did you know the habitats themselves are designed to enrich our animals, and to encourage their natural behaviors?

For example, Rocky Mountain goats need vertical opportunities to climb, so their habitat reflects that. Hippos need a combination of water at various depths, and flat land to graze. Orangutans need objects to swing between. Leopards are expert tree climbers, so guests will notice ten new tree perches for them to navigate. They also like to rest up high in the trees, because it gives them a better vantage point. They’re often seen sleeping on their tummies with legs on either side of a large branch, and they have many opportunities for that in their new habitat.

“Our horticulture and grounds teams made the new perching adjustable, which is amazing,” said Dann. “If we find that our perching is too steep, or not steep enough, we can adjust a few bolts and see if the cats prefer things at a different angle. It means we’re not ‘stuck’ with the design, if we find our leopards aren’t engaging with it.”

The team also wanted to upgrade the habitat’s water feature. A previously unused waterfall has been revamped to help keep the leopards cool and provide an immersive, natural sound for guests.

“We want our guests to feel like they’re in the Far East or near a snowmelt stream in the Himalayas, where these big cats roam,” said Dann. “We thought we could do that with the waterfall, but we knew our leopards don’t like to be splashed. That was one of many examples of our teams coming together to find a solution that met all of our needs. Our keepers worked closely with our architect, horticulture, grounds and maintenance teams to get the flow of waterfall just perfect.”

The team also added some big rocks to the center of the pond, and set a low water level, so the leopards have cool rocks to nap on and they can wade into the shallow pond, if they choose to.

All three leopards have explored the new space, and Asian Highland keepers have been happy with their engagement.

“As keepers, we love the relationships we get to build with the animals, but we don’t want their lives to revolve around us,” said Dann. “We work to give them the comfort they seek from a habitat, but also problems to solve as independent beings. I love that we can provide these environments that give them more choices in their daily lives.”

There are a few final touches in the works, including a permanent waist-high fence to replace the temporary barrier that keeps guests at safe distance from the big cats’ mesh fencing. Guests can visit the leopards in Asian Highlands now.

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Have you noticed the colorful boxes on top of Grizzly Grill? Those are our new bees’ homes! We welcomed three honeybee colonies earlier this month, and they’re hard at work building their hives. Soon, guests will be able to visit an observation colony in The Treehouse in My Big Backyard. Until then, get up-close to our buzzing busy bees in this video, and perhaps learn a few fun facts about our flying friends.

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Their majestic shaggy manes. Their oversized ears. Their frequent cuddling. Their bold-but-gentle demeanors. It’s hard to pick a favorite thing about CMZoo’s senior Asiatic black bears, Honey and Beezler. Luckily, we don’t have to.

The two extremely fluffy black bears live just above the pathway between the mountain tapir exhibit and Grizzly Grill. They’re also on the path to the Zoo’s main office building, so a lot of CMZoo staff stop and say hello to the ladies daily. It may not be obvious to all who visit the bears, but they’re a rare sight to appreciate. Asiatic black bears are only visible in five zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).

“They’re a couple of my favorite animals at the whole Zoo,” said Erika Furnes, Rocky Mountain Wild animal keeper who has worked with them for four years. “There’s just something about them that makes us all fall in love with them, but it’s hard to say specifically what it is. It’s probably a combination of their adorable appearances, gentle natures and pure old-lady sass.”

Honey and Beezler, sisters, will turn 29 years old in January 2022. They’re the oldest documented Asiatic black bears in human care, and will reach the AZA’s median life expectancy for the species on their next birthday. There’s no denying that these two are slowing down, but they have mastered the art of gracefully embracing their golden years.

“The first thing most people notice is their intense stares,” said Furnes. “They often sit on the very edge of their rocky ledge and watch our guests. They watch us keepers, too, and they seem to recognize us. They know we’re usually here with some fun enrichment or training rewards.”

Recently, the keepers gave them cornstalks as enrichment. Although they were given multiple stalks to share, Honey and Beezler set their sights on the same prized piece. After tug-of-war and a little sibling bickering, the two cuddled up for a nap.

These bears are lifelong scholars. When keepers train with the bears from behind a protective barrier, Honey and Beezler are excited to participate. They’re currently working on husbandry behaviors that allow their care team to monitor for age-related issues, including blood draw training and paw and mouth presentations. Down the line, if they’re showing signs that they’re not feeling well, the blood draw training will be a learned behavior that allows our veterinary team to diagnose them without adding stress to the bears. They’re equally interested in training, and they’re well rewarded for their efforts.

They like veggies and fruit – even jackfruit, which is turned down by nearly every other animal at the Zoo. They like yogurt as a special treat, and grape jelly – specifically grape flavored jelly – is their favorite. They get an omnivore chow to provide the protein they need in their diet. Their keepers have offered them fish, but they turned up their noses at it. They preferred to smash the fish to pieces and rub the fish pieces all over their luxurious fur. Call it a unique perfume.

“They nap a lot, but in between sleeps, they’re pretty active for their age,” said Furnes. “We set their exhibit up with lots of activities that encourage them to stay active. They like to cool off and play with logs in their pool in the summer months, and that’s good exercise. Their habitat has multiple levels, so just by encouraging them to explore different areas, they’re getting chances to stretch and strengthen.”

They sometimes climb the trees in their exhibit to reach a tasty snack, dig in the various substrates available to them, or forage in leaf piles their keepers spread throughout their two-yard exhibit.

Sleep is equally as important as adventure, though. The ladies can often be found lying together in a sunny spot on their rocks, or cuddling in a comfy hay pile in their den. Honey also likes to lounge in their hammock. Honey is the more laid back bear, enjoying many afternoons in the hammock and preferring to have her enrichment delivered to her. Beezler seems to like the challenge of harder-to-reach enrichment, and is usually the first to explore a new activity.

Both bears have the distinctive Asiatic black bear marking that gives them the name Moon Bears: a white crescent moon shape in the long fur on their chests. The species is small for a bear. They each weigh around 300 pounds, which is petite compared to 700-pound CMZoo grizzly bears, Emmett and Digger. You can tell the sisters apart by looking for the details. Beezler has a bigger white spot under her chin and has brown claws. Honey’s claws are longer and lighter.

As Honey and Beezler continue to age, their care team will monitor them closely for advancing arthritis, which they receive pain and anti-inflammatory medications to cope with for now. Next time you’re at CMZoo, take a walk up to visit these rare bears, and see if you can tell who’s who.

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