Join Bhutan, our 13-year-old snow leopard, and his keepers for snow day enrichment and training! Learn about Bhutan’s personality, his favorite scent-masking seasoning, which husbandry behaviors he’s working on, and how Bhutan is contributing to the future of his species. Make sure your volume is up to hear Bhutan’s impressive growls during his training session.

Snow leopards’ wild populations are listed as ‘vulnerable,’ according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List. Bhutan’s genetics are extremely valuable to the Snow Leopard Species Survival Plan, but he prefers a life with plenty of his own space, so traditional breeding isn’t in his future. Bhutan’s sperm is valuable because he doesn’t have offspring and has an extremely high sperm count. His sperm has been collected and is kept in a ‘frozen zoo.’ If the need arises, conservationists can pair Bhutan with a genetically valuable female snow leopard without having to involve Bhutan.

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It’s officially winter, when many people wonder if Emmett and Digger, CMZoo’s grizzly bears, go into hibernation. The short answer is no, but it’s a more complicated topic than some might expect. Scientists continue to study seasonal animal dormancy and are finding that animals experience a wide spectrum of behavioral and physiological changes in the winter months.

Various states of dormancy, including torpor or hibernation, are caused by seasonal changes including less sunlight, lower ambient temperatures and reduced food availability in the wild. But, animals in human care can also experience seasonal changes, even though they have plenty of food and shelter available. When animals go into these dormant states, their body temperatures, heart rates, metabolisms and respiratory rates are reduced. Generally, they slow down.

“Although bears have become the poster children of hibernation in popular culture, bear experts maintain that not all bears hibernate,” said Kelsey Walker, Rocky Mountain Wild keeper. “Wild bears naturally slow down to conserve energy, since they don’t have regular access to food. Even with consistent access to food, our boys experience changes each winter, so dormancy could be an adaptation developed over generations of bears surviving in the wild, and it has to do with more than food availability. Like I said, it’s complicated.”

Emmett and Digger sleep more and eat less during the winter months, even though they have access to warm dens and plentiful food year-round. Still, they stay pretty active during the winter, and continue training with their keepers and exploring their multi-yard exhibit and pond.

“In the winter, they will still interact with us, but they expect higher rewards for participation,” said Courtney Rogers, lead keeper in Rocky Mountain Wild. “What seems like a tasty snack during the summer isn’t worth the effort in the winter. I’ve seen Emmett and Digger square up over a single blueberry in the summer. In the winter, we can toss them a whole fresh trout and if it doesn’t land in their mouths, they don’t want it right away.”

Keepers say Emmett and Digger still play-wrestle, splash in their pond, and train in the winter months, but in a less energetic way. To maintain a good relationship while their normal food rewards aren’t as interesting to the grizzles, the keepers give them extra-rewarding items, like salmon.

“We want to make sure they’re still mentally stimulated while their bodies are in a more restful state, so we give the bears opportunities for mental stimulation, through training and enrichment options, while their bodies rest,” said Walker. “If you’ve seen them in the summer, you’ve got to come out and watch them in the winter. Although they slow down a bit, they’re as captivating as ever and guests can see them snuggling together, training with us or investigating enrichment items all winter long.”

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Keepers recently noticed Anja, a 5-month-old ring-tailed lemur pup, appeared to be consistently clenching her hands. The extremely energetic little lemur didn’t appear to be having any mobility issues as a result, but because lemurs use their hands to grip trees and move around, keepers wanted to keep a close eye on her. She was keeping up with her twin brother, Elo, and older half-brother, Maky, just fine.

“Once Anja gained independence and wasn’t spending most of her time clinging to her mom, we noticed she wasn’t opening her hands all the way,” said Grace Sullivan, Water’s Edge: Africa keeper. “She’s constantly leaping around with her brothers, so we’re not concerned about her well-being, but if there’s something we can do now to help her avoid any potential future limitations, of course we want to do that.”

Water’s Edge: Africa keepers and CMZoo’s veterinary staff teamed up to check on little Anja, and didn’t see any injuries or unusual bone structure. There’s no formal diagnosis at this point, but it appears she has tight ligaments.

After consulting with a veterinary sports medicine and rehabilitation specialist, her team built a physical therapy routine for Anja. The routine has similar goals as the exercises prescribed by physical therapists at Children’s Hospital Colorado’s Sports Medicine Center, partners of CMZoo.

“During her therapy, we ask Anja to hold onto a wooden pole and then we turn the pole slightly so her fingers open up,” said Sullivan. “She’s really smart, and she loves the training rewards she receives during the sessions, so she’s usually eager to participate.”

Anja doesn’t appear to experience discomfort during these training sessions and keepers have seen some improvement in her range of motion since starting the therapy in mid-November. Keepers do this behavior with Anja three times a week.

In addition to training, the team added some obstacles to Lemur Island that encourage her to stretch those tight ligaments as she moves around throughout the day. There’s a series of bamboo poles attached perpendicularly to another pole, which the lemurs have all enjoyed exploring. The poles are a wider circumference than other climbing opportunities on Lemur Island, so Anja’s fingers get a good stretch while she navigates, as has fun at the same time.

“The lemurs also share a new rope hammock made of thick ropes set far apart,” said Sullivan. “It’s enriching for all of the lemurs to explore these new items, but we’re especially happy to see Anja using them successfully.”

The team will continue working with Anja to gain flexibility in her fingers.

“We talk about how there’s always a balance when you’re addressing any potential struggles an animal might face,” said Sullivan. “We want to make sure Anja is okay, but we don’t want to go too far with treatments or diagnostics if she can clearly do all of the lemur things she needs to do with her hands as they are. Her hands might just be another thing that make this little one so special, in the long run. For now, we’re seeing the exercises help, so we’ll keep doing them.”

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Are you busy preparing your own epic feast this Thanksgiving? CMZoo’s commissary team prepares hundreds of meals every day for the animals in our care. Learn more about what goes into feeding and enriching our animals from our commissary manager, Chelsea!

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One the of many benefits of living at the Zoo is our animals’ access to round-the-clock expert veterinary care. Combined, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s veterinary team has more than 100 years of experience in the veterinary field. The team of six brings an extensive background in animal medicine, conservation, research, education, animal husbandry training and clinical practice to the hundreds of animals that live at the Zoo. From elephants to axolotls, their passion for animals of all shapes and sizes is a driving force at CMZoo.

Just like humans, animals get varying levels of medical care. Depending on what a person needs, they might go to their primary care team, or an urgent care or emergency care center. Our partner, Children’s Hospital Colorado has human tips on how to choose the best level of care based on what’s going on.

At CMZoo, the veterinary team works closely with keepers and animal care managers to provide varying levels of care, too.

“Our goal is to provide the best medical care available for our animals, and to care for them in a way that helps them feel in control and confident,” said Dr. Jon Romano, CMZoo head veterinarian. “Unlike human doctors, we can’t explain to our patients what kind of care they need. Animal care teams work with animals to participate in voluntary husbandry training, which means the animals get positive reinforcement – like treats – for doing a behavior we ask of them, and that allows us to care for them with their participation.”

Through husbandry training, animals can receive routine care, like blood draws, vaccinations or x-rays, in their homes. With mobile veterinary equipment and special exhibit ports that allow our vet team to safely access animals, the scene is set for successful, low-stress diagnostics.

“When we’re working with an animal that could potentially be dangerous, we always put our staff safety first,” said Dr. Romano. “Our maintenance team has built ports into many of the animal exhibits, which allow us to draw blood from a grizzly bear’s paw or from an African lion’s tail, for example. Those voluntary blood draws help us track an animal’s health routinely, or address any concerns their care team might have.”

Abuto, CMZoo’s 10-year-old African lion patriarch, deals with ongoing kidney issues. Because of his trusting relationship with keepers and his voluntary trained behaviors, Abuto’s team can give him subcutaneous fluids if he’s not feeling well, right there in his home. They can also track his kidney levels through routine voluntary blood draws. Giraffe, elephants and many more animals at the Zoo participate in voluntary blood draws. With testing equipment at the CMZoo clinic, the veterinary team can get fast results from those blood tests and start treating an animal quickly.

When BB, CMZoo’s one-year-old reticulated giraffe calf was born in September 2020, the team saw her front legs were more bent than usual. To make sure BB wasn’t dealing with something more serious than tight ligaments (which corrected themselves in a few weeks), her animal care team brought the clinic to BB, in the giraffe barn.

“Because BB was only a couple of days old, we were able to safely go into to the stall with her to take blood draws and x-rays of her legs with our mobile equipment,” said Dr. Romano. “Being able to diagnose BB quickly, in her own home, and with as little stress as possible, was a huge benefit to BB. And, it meant that she was only separated from her mom for a few minutes so we could check on her.”

Thankfully, BB turned out to be just fine, but the diagnostics gave the vet team immediate answers about any treatments she may have needed. Once the veterinary team has diagnosed an issue, they can often treat it on-site.

“Our veterinary hospital is equipped for us to house an animal that needs consistent monitoring, or temperature control, or needs to be separated from its group to receive care,” said Dr. Romano. “We can also perform procedures that require animals to go under anesthesia. We try to avoid that as much as possible because anesthesia always presents a risk. Because we can perform more involved diagnostics here at the Zoo hospital, they’re under anesthesia for a shorter time than if we had to transport them somewhere else, which reduces that risk somewhat.”
These procedures take place at the Zoo in the clinic’s treatment room, which houses anesthesia machines for all sizes of patients, and monitoring equipment including heartrate, respiratory rate, and blood pressure. Juju, CMZoo 40-year-old Western lowland gorilla, recently benefitted from a diagnostic procedure at the vet clinic and has since recovered well.

There are many aspects to providing the best possible care for the animals who live at the Zoo. The veterinary team’s expertise, the hospital and mobile equipment, voluntary animal training, exhibit modifications, and keepers’ personal relationships with their animals all benefit the animals in their care.

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Last month, Juju, 40-year-old CMZoo female Western lowland gorilla, started showing her keepers she wasn’t feeling well. Juju, who is known for being confident and independent, was spending more time away from the group, being less energetic, and sitting uncomfortably. Juju is in her golden years, having surpassed the median life expectancy of 39 years for female Western lowland gorillas, and had experienced short periods of similar discomfort, but this episode was lasting longer and her symptoms were more severe.

On August 4, 2021, after her team had exhausted all voluntary diagnostic and treatment options, Juju received a thorough examination under anesthesia in CMZoo’s vet clinic. Anesthesia is risky for any animal, but especially for an older animal. X-rays showed she doesn’t have major issues, like fractures or breaks, causing her pain, and that it’s more chronic, age-related issues to manage. She did well under anesthesia and has recovered and responded well to the treatments, including steroid injections in her left knee and left hip, and ongoing oral medications to help with pain and inflammation. Thankfully, Juju’s keepers and veterinary team have seen her continue to improve physically since the treatment.

Unless Juju’s care team sees that she’s declining, they’ll continue to manager her discomfort with oral medications, and won’t attempt any further diagnostics. They track her quality-of-life markers for her ‘new normal,’ which help the team set realistic expectations and more specific behavior trends that help them identify if she might need assistance again.

Some might think Juju’s care plan is purely focused on her physical conditions, but there’s another factor to consider when an animal has to leave and rejoin its group: the well-being of the troop. Because gorillas are such social beings, and because CMZoo’s Western lowland gorilla troop of five has been somewhat slow to form a cohesive group, the next step was to reunite them while preserving the relationships they’ve worked so hard to establish.

Silverback gorillas joining an established group, like 30-year-old Goma, have to earn the respect of the females in their troops, and a large-and-in-charge female like Juju doesn’t always make it easy for him. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t be unusual for Juju to ‘challenge’ Goma, testing her limits by sitting closer than he would prefer, for example. When Juju does this, Goma’s job is to prove he’s a leader to earn her and the other females’ respect. He might ‘display,’ by standing up tall and making noise with nearby objects. Normally Juju would show him respect by moving away. While she wasn’t as mobile as usual, Goma – knowing Juju’s tendencies – could have seen her inability to move away quickly as a continued challenge, which could have caused tension between them. To avoid creating this environment, which would be stressful for the whole troop, keepers gave Goma his own space. Other than during her time at the vet clinic, Juju was with the females consistently.

“Once our vet team decided Juju was steady enough, she rejoined the girls,” said Eleanor Knox, senior keeper in Primate World. “When we opened the door between them, she was still pretty stiff from the procedure. Roxie and Asha were doing happy gorilla grumbles and touching her. Roxie, her best friend, patted her. Asha sort of encouraged her out of the den to a comfy hay bed, where she relaxed for the next couple of hours with Roxie close by.”

By the next morning, Juju had made her way outside, followed by Roxie. The team gave Juju about a week after the immobilization before reuniting her and the females with Goma. After a week, they could see the ladies were calm and settled, and Juju was confident and mobile enough to share space with him.

“The goal is to have a cohesive group, so separating Goma was the best thing for them at the time, but we knew we would need them to reunite when Juju was better,” said Knox. “It didn’t take long to see we could reunite everyone safely.”

When gorillas are excited or happy, they let out ‘gorilla grumbles,’ and the day they were reunited was grumbly indeed. They’ve been back together for their normal daily interactions for about two weeks.

“Just seeing that they could go through this potentially stressful scenario so calmly, and actually seeing excitement during the reunion is a huge nod to their resilience and bonds as a group,” said Knox. “Goma has been paying a lot of attention, which we can interpret as him caring about the overall good of the group.”

Primate World keepers will continue to monitor Juju and adjust treatments as needed. For now, the troop has settled back in together so well, that they’ll continue spending time together as a troop, growing their bonds.

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Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is home to five Western lowland gorillas. Within the group, the gorillas have unique individual relationships, but Juju and Roxie, our eldest and closely-bonded longtime residents, are especially tight knit. They’ve both surpassed the 39-year median life expectancy for females of their species in human care, with Roxie at 44 and Juju at 40. Both ladies have experienced periodic medical issues, but overall have been in relatively good health for their ages until recently.

In 2019, Roxie’s care team placed her on long-term hospice care for ongoing kidney, reproductive system and gastrointestinal issues. This means they decided it is in Roxie’s best interest not to go to heroics to help Roxie recover from another severe episode. They would, however, continue to provide supportive care. If she needs it, they could administer IV fluids and nutrition, if she has another phase of not eating and drinking. Since making that decision, Roxie’s keepers say she has had the longest stretch in good health they can remember.

Juju has experienced short phases of physical discomfort. The cause of her discomfort has yet to be diagnosed, but her symptoms are now presenting more severely than they have previously.

“We’ve seen Juju spending more time wanting to be away from the group and being less energetic,” said Carrie Supino, Primate World keeper and Juju’s primary trainer. “We’re also seeing signs that her left leg is uncomfortable. She hasn’t been sitting cross-legged like she normally does, which leads us to believe that’s a main source of her pain.”

Typically, Juju’s discomfort occurs once or twice per year and can be corrected in a matter of days with pain and anti-inflammatory medications. But, in mid-July, she started showing signs that this episode is more severe. Oral pain and anti-inflammatory medications, which have worked in the past, are not bringing Juju the relief she needs this time.

At this point, the team has exhausted all voluntary diagnostic and treatment options, so they’re planning an immobilization for Juju in early August 2021. Under anesthesia, the team can safely get hands-on with Juju to hopefully diagnose the cause of her discomfort and start effective treatments. There is always a risk when an animal goes under anesthesia, and that risk is higher for older animals, like Juju.

Juju’s team tracks quality-of-life markers that help them identify if and when they need to escalate her care, including her appetite, activity level, social interactions with other gorillas, mobility and interest in training and enrichment.

“Juju is overall in good health,” said Supino. “Other than these issues, she’s doing great. As a team, we think this immobilization is the best next step in helping Juju feel better.”

Roxie was born at CMZoo and Juju came to the Zoo in 1982. Keepers say they have been best friends from the time they met.

“We’ve seen them sitting next to each other watching the rest of the troop, like they’re two old ladies on a park bench,” said Supino. “They’ll even have little tickle fights and get playful together. Juju has a respect for Roxie, and vice versa, that seems to allow them to let their normal gorilla guard down around each other.”

Roxie is known as a tactile gorilla, who enjoys patting her troop mates on the rear, playfully wrestling, tickling and even cuddling with them. Juju is described as ‘the boss.’ With an athletic build and a lot of confidence, Juju isn’t one to back down from a challenge. Gorillas generally prefer to have their own space, but the special bond between these two is different. In the last couple of weeks, as Juju deals with health issues, keepers have seen how important they are to each other.

“Lately, Roxie never leaves her side,” said Supino. “Being as close as six feet for gorillas is considered an interaction that means they’re really comfortable together. There aren’t many other gorillas Juju will let sit close to her. For the past couple of weeks, wherever Juju is, Roxie is right there.”

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Join us for an extra-special trip to our mountainside elephant vacation yard! Lucky and Kimba are spending some away from guests to graze and relax in the two-acre meadow, which is specially tended for our aging African elephants. Make sure to listen for the songs and calls of the wild birds who live around the vacation yard as well!

The Wilgruen Elephant Center at CMZoo was designed to care for aging elephants, and is currently home to our herd of six geriatric African elephants, lovingly dubbed our, ‘Golden Girls.’ Just like humans, care for each elephant is specific to the individual, and keepers work to provide the best possible care for these aging beauties, relying on equipment and spaces designed to help them stretch and exercise their bodies and minds. Part of this special care includes space for the elephants to relax.

Through our Quarters for Conservation program, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is proud to partner with the Tsavo Trust to protect elephants and rhinos in the largest national park in Kenya. Using both aerial surveys and ground patrols, Tsavo Trust helps prevent poaching in an effort to keep these iconic and endangered animals around for future generations. Learn more about Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s African elephant conservation efforts.

On June 25, our African lion siblings turn six! It’s hard to believe it’s already been that long since the three adorable African lion cubs were born to parents Lomela and Abuto at CMZoo. Since then, they’ve grown gorgeous manes (for the boys), perfected their ground-shaking roars, learned voluntary husbandry behaviors, adjusted their family dynamics, and inspired thousands of people. A lot has changed, but some things – like how feisty Elsa, the only daughter, is – stay the same.

The African lion habitat at CMZoo includes a variety of spaces for the groups to explore separately. When 9-year-old dad, Abuto, almost-14-year-old mom, Lomela, and Elsa are together enjoying the indoor Relaxation Room or off-exhibit maternity yard, brothers Aslan and Boma might be exploring the yard that overlooks African Rift Valley.

When the boys, Boma and Aslan, were about a year-and-a-half old, Abuto told them it was time to go on their own, so the boys formed a coalition of their own. This happens in the wild, and we mimic that social dynamic here at the Zoo. African lions are unique, being the only big cats that typically live in groups in the wild.

Boma and Aslan have a strong relationship and can often be found lounging together at the top of their yard on the large rocks overlooking Colorado Springs.

“These two are really bonded,” said Diana Miller, senior keeper in African Rift Valley, and Boma’s primary trainer. “Boma can be a little guarded over his favorite toys, like half boomer balls that he will carry up to the top bench or put in a corner to keep all for himself.”

Boma has always been the largest of the siblings, but not always the bravest. He has a few favorite people, like his keepers, who he will greet with a head rub on the fence between them, but generally prefers to watch most activity from a distance. He’s most confident when his brother is nearby.

“He really relies on his brother when it comes to investigating new things in his environment,” said Miller. “He’s curious, but he’s not usually willing to be the first to check things out.”

Although hesitant, Boma is a quick learner and seems to enjoy training. His keepers love to demonstrate Boma’s smarts with a voluntary behavior they call ‘where is your toy?’. This is a physical and mental challenge for Boma, who receives positive reinforcement for interacting with enrichment items on cue. The tricky thing is, each time, the lion needs to interact with something different.

“When we ask him to do this behavior, Boma will slowly approach something in the area, tap it with his paw and come back to us,” said Miller. “It just shows how different each individual is, because we do this same behavior with Abuto, and he will run over and smack things with such enthusiasm. Boma prefers to take his time, and that’s just fine with us.”

Boma weighs in at 470 pounds. He has darker fur, amber colored eyes and more freckles on his nose, compared to Aslan. Aslan has had a crinkly right ear since he was born, which helps many guests tell him apart from his brother. Aslan is slightly smaller, at 440 pounds, and is lighter in color than Boma.

While Boma takes after his dad’s appearances, Aslan’s personality is just like Abuto’s. Because of their laid-back approach to life, Aslan and Abuto do most of the behind-the-scenes encounters with guests.

“Aslan is really mellow and vocal,” said Kayla Ringuette, African Rift Valley keeper and Aslan’s primary trainer. “He makes little baby noises when he trains, just like he did when he was a cub and we started working together. He was such a sweet-natured and curious cub. Aslan still likes to interact with his keepers and guests, but as an adult, he’s also confident lounging on his heated floors in the mornings. He’ll come over and greet us on his own timeline, rather than rushing over like he did as a cub.”

He’s also the goofiest of the bunch, according to his keepers. But, he’s quite the scholar when it comes to training. Aslan is trained for a voluntary ‘drink’ and blood draw behaviors, just like his dad.

“Abuto has kidney issues, so we keep a close eye on the boys and train them proactively so that if we need to help them, it’s a behavior they’re comfortable with,” said Ringette. “He also gives blood voluntarily, like Abuto, so we can monitor his blood values. These behaviors will be really helpful if Aslan ever develops any kidney problems, which are unfortunately relatively common in big cats.”

Aslan’s favorite enrichment is the huge, 55-gallon barrels that keepers place throughout the lions’ yards and indoor spaces. Guests can get an idea of how powerful the lions are by witnessing the damage they can do to the incredibly thick barrels.

“He loves dragging all of the barrels into one spot in a den or in the ‘cave’ in the big yard,” said Ringuette. “The barrels seem like fun for him, but they also allow him to mimic the natural behaviors of dragging a meal home as he would in the wild. That sort of enrichment helps keep him physically and mentally stimulated, along with training and other activities.”

Elsa may be the smallest of the siblings, but keepers say she’s the feistiest. Even at just a few months old, when she still lived with her brothers, she would push right past them to get to food. Now, she lives in a pride with her mom and dad, and has a very bonded relationship with them. At 340 pounds, the only daughter of the pride weighs 200 pounds less than Abuto, but still takes every chance she can to wrestle with him.

“She loves to play more than any of the other lions, and we frequently see her initiating play with Abuto and Lomela,” said Rachael Hahn, senior keeper in African Rift Valley and Elsa’s primary trainer. “If she sees her brothers in a separate space, she’ll duck behind something and pop back up like she’s playing ‘peek-a-boo,’ and Boma will sometimes play along.”

A true lioness, Elsa likes to hunt. Hahn says one of her favorite behaviors to see Elsa do is called ‘attack the buffalo.’ This behavior, which involves a water buffalo statue in their main yard, is another way to encourage the lions to exercise their natural strengths while demonstrating their impressive agility and power to guests.

“When Elsa gets her ‘buffalo’ training cue, she will run over to the statue, jump onto it and grab the buffalo’s back, just as hunting lions do in the wild,” said Hahn. “The buffalo’s back is about four feet from the ground, so the leap itself is really impressive. It keeps her agile and active, and hopefully helps our guests fall in love with lions, so they can help us protect them in the wild.”

In March 2021, members voted to fund a pet vaccination program, called Kura’s Pride, managed by our long-time conservation partner, Ewaso Lions, based in northern Kenya. These vaccines can help prevent life threatening diseases, like rabies and distemper, from being transmitted from pet dogs and cats to wild carnivores, like African lions, that live in the area. The team has administered more than 800 vaccines since starting the outreach program a month after the member vote. CMZoo funding provided local communities with trained personnel, vehicles, veterinary equipment, and materials to make collars used to identify vaccinated dogs and cats.

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Animals age in many different ways. Some get to their golden years sooner than you might think, while others take a surprisingly long time to achieve that status. The Loft and My Big Backyard, at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, are home to a few furry (and scaly!) friends that have recently entered the golden years of life.

Striped skunk brothers, Fred and George, recently turned seven years old! That might not sound like an old age, but skunks in the wild live three-to-five years, on average. In human care, a 10-year-old skunk would be very old. Fred and George are still as mischievous as ever, but we have noticed that they have started to slow down a bit and prefer to spend more time napping than running around.

Virginia opossum, Hutch, is three years old, but in opossum terms he has reached the geriatric stage. Opossums tend to live three-to-four years in human care, and two-to-three years in the wild. You might see Hutch frequently sleeping while on exhibit, and this is because opossums are nocturnal and are more active at night. For now, Hutch is still participating in lots of training, encounters, and going for walkabouts around the Zoo. Though we know he’s starting to age, and keepers are monitoring him accordingly, he is still showing his care team he’s enriched and comfortable.

American beaver, Ginger, just celebrated her twelfth birthday!! This means she is a little over a year older than the median life expectancy for beavers. Ginger is also nocturnal and spends most of her day napping, but she usually wakes up in the late afternoon for a swim, some snacks and the occasional walkabout. She has some arthritis, which gives her a little wobble in her walk, but we monitor her closely and give her regular medicine and treatments to help her deal with her aches and pains.

Blue-tongued skink, Daryl, is 22 years old. Many blue-tongued skinks live into their twenties in human care, so Daryl has officially entered his golden years. Skinks are easy to recognize with long, wide bodies, and short stubby legs. Due to this body type, they are not particularly fast animals, and Darryl is no exception to that. He often spends his days napping and waking up to grab a couple bites of food, before enjoying another nap. Daryl receives nutritional supplements in his diet, but hasn’t shown keepers he needs additional medications or treatments at this point.

All of these animals are part of CMZoo’s animal ambassador team, which means they go on ZOOMobile programs, do meet-and-greets, and participate in special hands-on encounters for many different education programs, at the Zoo and off-site.

As they get older, they may start to show signs that they are no longer interested in these programs. Their keepers track their behaviors and any physical signs of discomfort, and when that data reveals trends that need to be addressed, their roles may change. They also receive medications, like anti-inflammatory and pain medications, when needed, and treatments like laser therapy, which helps them have a good quality of life, despite aging joints and other age-related ailments. When their care team sees that they’re ready to retire from programming, their schedules focus more on enrichment and care at the Zoo.

You can visit our ‘golden gang’ in The Loft and My Big Backyard at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, where they’ll continue training, receiving care, and getting all the naps, snacks and scratches from keepers they want.

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