Meet the Primates of the Rainforest Review Show: White-cheeked Gibbons

White-cheeked gibbons of Southeast Asia:



In the Southeast Asia part of Monkey Pavilion you will see our white-cheeked gibbon Tanh-Linh. Tanh-Linh is one of our best acrobats and has some amazing behaviors to show you. Tanh-Linh is 21 years old and was born at the Oregon Zoo. He came to CMZ when he was five years old to be friends with our female white-cheeked gibbon, Debbie. They are a perfect pair and are best friends. However, Debbie is dominate over Tanh-Linh and he will not do any of his behaviors if she is in the enclosure. We separate them for the show and reunite them shortly there after.



You can tell Tanh-Linh and Debbie apart because they are two different colors. Tanh-Linh is the black one with fluffy white cheeks and Debbie is the white one with a small patch of black on the top of her head. Scientists believe that the color difference in this species is to help them decipher who is male and who is female when they are looking for mates. White-cheeked gibbons form monogamous pairs and will usually spend their whole lives with one mate. Their offspring will live with them until they reach maturity and leave the natal group. When white-cheeked gibbon babies are born they will be white like the female for the first year or so. When they are around two years old all the babies will turn black. Finally, once the females reach maturity around 5 or 6 years, they will turn back to white. Tanh-Linh and Debbie have one surviving offspring named Tangra. This summer we sent her to a zoo in Texas to find a mate of her own.



Tanh-Linh and Debbie are a great pair to watch and can be seen either in one of our outdoor enclosures or in their home exhibit inside Monkey Pavilion. They will amaze you with their swinging and leaping abilities. So be sure to catch Tanh-Linh center stage during our Rainforest Review Show at 11:30 in Monkey Pavilion.

Amur Leopard and Tiger Alliance likes CMZ’s Quarters for Conservation

The Amur Leopard and Tiger Alliance (ALTA) publishes a newsletter every couple of months. In the most recent newsletter there is an article about Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s Q4C program!


Here is a snapshot of the story. If you would like to read the entire newsletter you can access it from the ALTA website.

Adopt a Porcupine!

Don't miss out!

For a limited time, you can get your very own cuddly stuffed porcupine! Adopt one of our porcupines in Rocky Mountain Wild for $50, and you will not only get a stuffed animal, but you will also receive a full color photograph, personalized adoption certificate, fact sheet about North American porcupines, and an invitation to Parent Day in August!

Visit our Adopt an Animal page for more information.



The North American Porcupine, best known of the New World species, is a heavyset, short-legged, slow-moving rodent that is usually solitary, nocturnal, herbivorous, and spends much of its time in trees. It has a small head, a large, chunky body with a high arching back and short legs. Its head and body are 25 to 40 inches long, with a long, thick, muscular tail growing as long as 8 inches. It weighs from 10 to 40 pounds. Long, yellowish guard hairs cover the front half of its body while up to 30,000 quills are interspersed among the dark, coarse guard hairs of the back and tail. These quills are the most distinguishing characteristic of the porcupine. You can see a real porcupine in Rocky Mountain Wild at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo everyday next to the moose exhibit.

Swinging in the Rainforest: A Night with Orangutans

Join us for a night with the orangutans! AAZK (American Association of Zookeepers) is hosting the second annual Swinging in the Rainforest orangutan fundraiser.



Be some of the first to learn what Cheyenne Mountain Zoo's team, Tracey Gazibara, Dina Bredahl, and Mandy Hollingsworth, discovered about orangutan conservation on their recent trip to Indonesia and Malaysia (see the Palm Oil Blog for updates from the trip while they were there). Watch the orangutans perform their natural behavior show and an orangutan painting session. Bid on some of your favorite orangutan paintings, photographs and gifts from Indonesia in our silent auction. Activities for kids will include coloring sheets, making enrichment for the primates and practicing orangutan nest building skills. Maggie Moos will be serving up their new palm oil free flavor "Swinging Orangutan Shindig" in support of this journey and the conservation of orangutan habitat. 25 cents of each scoop goes directly to orangutan conservation through the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo's Quarters for Conservation program.

The event will take place in Primate World on July 10, 2010 from 6:30-9:00 p.m. Doors open at 6:15 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the door the night of the event or online at from our events page. Hope you’ll swing on by and see us!

Cost:
$25 per adult
$40 per couple
$10 per child

Buy Swinging in the Rainforest tickets now! All proceeds benefit orangutan conservation.

Meet the Stars of the Rainforest Review Show: Mangabeys

Mangabeys of Africa

Black-crested mangabeys are cool looking primates that come from the Congo region of Africa. Their dark black coats and spiky hairdos make them a must see animal at the Cheyenne Mountain zoo.

These amazing primates live in the mid-level forest canopy. They spend their day leaping from tree to tree or running along branches looking for food. When they come across a food source they must gather it quickly because there is lots of competition. They must also keep their eyes on the sky because the crowned hawk eagle might be looking for them. They have to be ready to run at a moments notice to avoid this predator. Nature has provided them with some unique adaptation that helps them meet the challenges of surviving in the wild.

Come to Monkey Pavilion and meet one of our resident Mangabeys during our Rainforest Review Show.
















His name is Tana and he was born at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo 19 years ago. He is the youngest of our three male mangabeys and is a very active primate. Tana loves to run around in his outdoor exhibit and forage through the grass looking for yummy treats. Keepers like to put sunflower seeds, cereal, and raisins in the grass so that Tana has hours of foraging time. When he has found all of his treats in the grass you may see him doing other foraging behaviors.


Mangabeys love to peel the bark off the trees in their exhibits with their teeth. This natural behavior is their way of looking for insects to eat. No matter what he is doing he is always fun to watch, so come on by Monkey Pavilion and see what Tana is doing today.