Tumani's Birthday Party

Thank you to all of our friends and members who so graciously attended Tumani’s 2nd birthday party, gifts in hand! So many caring people brought donations of cereal, cups and frozen veggies for the gorillas. To see Tumani enjoying her very own “bran muffin” cupcake see the Gazette’s video.


Keepers decorated the gorilla habitat with streamers,
bran muffin cupcakes and a special sign made by our Preschool Class!

And a big congratulations goes to News First’s Andy Koen, winner of the Great Gorilla Media Challenge! Andy unpeeled a banana and drank a cup of water with his thumbs taped to his hand faster than any other competitor!


Winner Andy Koen with fellow media participants,
Kirk Speer and Andrea Brown.

(Unlike monkeys, gorillas and humans have opposable thumbs, making tasks such as peeling a banana much easier than for a monkey. You can try this activity at home – just tape your thumb to your hand and try performing simple every day tasks! Those opposable thumbs sure come in handy!)

We greatly appreciate all the media who came out to support Tumani, Year of the Gorilla and Cheyenne Mountain Zoo!


Fox 21’s Craig Coffey, Meaghan Collier,
Joe Cole and Stephanie Pytlinksi